Hearing on Umar Khalid's bail plea in UAPA case adjourned till Jan 10
New Delhi, Nov 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till January 10 the hearing on the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma deferred the matter as senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for Khalid and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju were not available.
"Joint request is made on behalf of the appellant and the Union of India due to the non-availability of the senior advocates who are going to argue the matter. List the matter on January 10. In the meantime, pleadings be completed in the matters," the bench said.
The matter was listed along with a batch of petitions challenging various provisions of the UAPA.
Supreme Court judge Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra had on August 9 recused himself from hearing Khalid's plea.
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 Mishra.
The high court had rejected Khalid's bail plea, saying he was in constant touch with other co-accused and the allegations against him were prima facie true.
The high court had also said the actions of the accused prima facie qualified as "terrorist act" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others have been booked under the anti-terror law UAPA and several provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The violence had erupted during the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Khalid, arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2020, had sought bail on grounds that he neither had any criminal role in the violence nor any "conspiratorial connect" with any other accused in the case.
The Delhi Police had opposed Khalid's bail plea in the high court, saying the speech delivered by him was "very calculated" and he brought up contentious issues like Babri Masjid, triple talaq, Kashmir, the alleged suppression of Muslims and the CAA and NRC.
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Air ambulance with 7 onboard to Delhi from Ranchi crashes in Jharkhand's Chatra
Ranchi (PTI): An air ambulance with seven people onboard to Delhi from Ranchi crashed near Simaria in Jharkhand's Chatra district on Monday, Ranchi airport Director Vinod Kumar said.
There was no immediate confirmation about casualties.
The crash occurred after the air ambulance took off from Ranchi airport at about 7.10 pm, the official said.
"An air ambulance from Ranchi with seven people onboard crashed near Simaria in Chatra district. The report of the crash was received from the state administration," Airport Director Kumar told PTI.
The ambulance had lost contact with air traffic control around 20 minutes after takeoff.
The DGCA in a statement said, "On 23.02.2026 Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd Beechcraft C90 aircraft VT-AJV operating medical evacuation (Air Ambulance) flight on sector Ranchi-Delhi crashed in Kasaria Panchayat of Chatra district, in Jharkhand."
There were seven people on board, including two crew members.
"The aircraft was airborne from Ranchi at 19:11 IST. After establishing contact with Kolkata at19:34 IST, aircraft lost communication and RADAR contact with Kolkata at approximately 100 NM South-East of Varanasi," it added.
The district administration's search and rescue team is at the location, and an Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team is being dispatched for investigation, the statement said.
Chatra Deputy Commissioner Keerthishree G told PTI, "The aircraft went missing around 7.30 pm. It crashed at Bariatu Panchayat in Simaria."
The DC said she cannot confirm the casualties right now, as the place of occurrence is deep in the forest.
"A team has been sent. We can confirm when the team reaches there," she added.
