The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre on former JNU student Umar Khalid’s plea challenging various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi also announced that similar petitions on the issue will be heard on November 22.

The top court will also hear Khalid’s plea seeking bail in a case lodged under the anti-terror law UAPA over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the Northeast Delhi riots of February 2020 on the same date.

Supreme Court judge Prashant Kumar Mishra had recused himself from hearing Khalid’s plea on August 9.

Khalid’s petition challenging the October 18, 2022 order of the Delhi High Court, which had rejected his bail plea in the matter, had come up for hearing before a bench of justices A S Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra.

The High Court had rejected Khalid’s bail plea, stating that he was in constant touch with other co-accused and the allegations against him were prima facie true. The High Court had also stated that the accused’s actions prima facie qualified as a “terrorist act” under the UAPA.

Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others have been booked under the UAPA and several provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” behind the February 2020 riots, which resulted in 53 deaths and over 700 injuries.

The violence had erupted during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Khalid, who was arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2020, had sought bail on the grounds that he had no criminal role in the violence and no “conspiratorial connect” with any other accused in the case.

The Delhi Police opposed Khalid’s bail plea in the High Court, stating that his speech was “very calculated” and raised contentious issues like Babri Masjid, triple talaq, Kashmir, the alleged suppression of Muslims, and the CAA and NRC.