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New Delhi: A division bench of the Supreme Court on Friday, May 22, referred its earlier ruling denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots case to a larger bench.

Justices Aravind Kumar and PB Varale made the reference while granting interim relief of six months to Tasleem Ahmed and Khalid Saifi, two others also accused in the riots that rocked northeast Delhi in 2020.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju asked for a review of the May 18 order that maintained bail should be the rule even for cases registered under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had granted bail to Syed Iftikhar Andrabi in a high-profile narco-terror case booked under relevant sections of the UAPA. The bench had disapproved the judgment delivered by a two-judge bench in the Gulfisha Fatima case, which denied bail to both Khalid and Imam.

While several activists, including Gulfisha Fatima, were granted relief, Khalid and Imam were labelled chief masterminds behind the riots by the Delhi police, and the top court held that they stood on a “qualitatively different footing” compared to the others.

“Bail the rule and jail the exception is a constitutional principle flowing from Article 21 and 22 and the presumption of innocence is the cornerstone of any civilised society governed by rule of law,” noted the bench of Justices Nagarathna and Bhuyan.

“We have no manner of doubt in stating that even under the UAPA, bail is the rule and jail is the exception. Of course, in an appropriate case, bail can be denied having regard to the facts of that particular case,” it added.

The apex court made it clear that its judgment in the KA Najeeb case is a binding law and cannot be diluted, circumvented or disregarded by trial courts, high courts or even by benches of a lower strength of this court.