Umar Khalid seeks review of SC verdict denying him bail, prays for open-court hearing
New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI): Student activist Umar Khalid has moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of a verdict that denied him bail while observing that there were reasonable grounds to believe the allegations levelled against him in connection with the conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria was requested by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared in the court for Khalid, to list the review petition in open court.
Sibal said the matter is coming up for consideration before the judges in chambers on April 16 and they have filed an application for an open-court hearing.
Justice Kumar said, "We will look into the papers. If required, we will call it."
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According to the Supreme Court's rules, review petitions are considered by judges who delivered a judgment or passed an order in chambers to remedy an apparent error or a resultant grave injustice that has been the consequence of a decision of the apex court. Parties seeking a review can request judges for an open-court hearing to rectify the grave injustice caused due to the decision under review.
On January 5, Besides Khalid, the top court had refused bail to Sharjeel Imam but granted it to five others, saying all the accused do not stand on the same footing.
Khalid and Imam, who have been incarcerated since 2020, can file fresh bail pleas after the examination of protected witnesses or after a year from the day the order was passed, the court had said, as it rejected their contention of a delay in the trial.
There was a prima-facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the top court had said, noting that prosecution material suggests that they were involved in the "planning, mobilisation and strategic direction" of the riots.
While the two will remain in jail, activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad were given bail by the court, which had imposed 11 conditions and said any misuse of liberty would lead to cancellation of bail.
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The court had noted that the guarantee of liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution is of foundational importance, but at the same time, the security of a community, the integrity of a trial process and the preservation of public order are equally legitimate constitutional concerns.
Khalid and Imam stand on qualitatively-different footing as compared to the other accused, the court had said.
The prosecution had prima facie disclosed "a central and formative role" and "involvement in the level of planning, mobilisation and strategic direction extending beyond episodic and localised acts", the bench had said.
The February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi broke out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), leaving 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
The Delhi Police had arrested a total of 18 people in the conspiracy case. Of them, 11 have got bail so far.
The apex court's January order had said a delay in the trial does not operate as a "trump card" that automatically displaces statutory safeguards.
"All the appellants do not stand on equal footing as regards culpability. The hierarchy of participation emerging from the prosecution's case requires the court to examine each application individually," it had said, adding that the roles attributed to them were different.
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"This court is satisfied that the prosecution material disclosed a prima-facie allegation against the appellants, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.... This stage of proceedings does not justify their enlargement on bail," the apex court had said.
It had cited section 43D(5) of the UAPA, which requires the court to deny bail if, on a perusal of a case diary or a chargesheet, it finds that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against such a person is prima-facie true.
Imam was arrested on January 28, 2020, for speeches made during anti-CAA protests. He was later arrested in the larger conspiracy case in August 2020.
Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020, on charges of delivering provocative speeches on February 24 and 25 when Donald Trump, in his first term as the president of the United States, had visited India.
Strongly opposing the bail pleas, the Delhi Police had then contended that the riots were not spontaneous but an orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed attack on India's sovereignty.
All seven accused were booked under the stringent anti-terror UAPA and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the riots.
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She is gone, the music lives on: Sorrow and song as Asha Bhosle cremated with state honours
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Mumbai (PTI): "Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar..." The strains of that wistful song played in the background at the Shivaji Park crematorium on Monday as hundreds of people gathered inside, and outside, to bid music legend Asha Bhosle a final sayonara.
A gun salute rang out as the last rites of Bhosle, perhaps the last of the singing greats who ruled the soundwaves for decades and still do, were held in accordance with Hindu rituals and with full state honours. Her son Anand performed the rituals.
Bhosle, one half of the legendary Mangeshkar sisters, passed away on Sunday due to multi-organ failure. She was 92 as was her Lata didi when she died in February 2022.
Priests recited mantras around the funeral pyre, decorated with vibrant yellow and orange marigolds.
Granddaughter Zanai was inconsolable. Sister Usha Mangeshkar, also a singer, and brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar, a music composer, were there too.
Among those gathered to pay their last respects to India's singer nonpareil were Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, director Ramesh Sippy and actors Aamir Khan and Vicky Kaushal.
It was a moment of sorrow and song too.
Before the pyre was lit, singers Shaan, Sudesh Bhosle and Anup Jalota paid a musical tribute to the enduring legend who sang some 12,000 songs in an incredible eight-decade career that started when she was just 10.
While Sudesh Bhosle crooned "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana", Shaan sang "Pyaar Ke Mod Pe".
But they were not the only ones.
Many fans, their hands folded in prayer, were heard singing the many numbers that made Bhosle the star that she was for music lovers of all ages and through many generations.
Snatches of "Aaiye Meherbaan", the languid song of love filmed on Madhubala, and "Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Pe", romance of another hue pictured on Zeenat Aman many decades later, and many others, could be heard. Some softly crooned, others louder.
"I've been a huge fan of Asha Tai. She has had songs for every mood and occasion. Our Tai, and her songs, will live forever in our hearts," said one ardent fan.
The irrepressible, exuberance of the versatile Bhosle, who was compelling whether she was singing classical or cabaret, was inspirational, said another.
"Not just her songs, but her being so energetic at this age inspired me. It's all because of her that I'm quite active even now," added another who came with her daughter.
The fanspeak melded with the instrumental versions of many of Bhosle's songs, right from "Inhi Logon Ne" to "In Aankhon Ki Masti" that played out.
It was a day to remember for Mumbai.
People lined the streets, gathered on rooftops and windows, and hundreds walked along the cortege as it made its slow way from Bhosle's home Lower Parel to Shivaji Park to accompany the city's very own Asha Tai on her last journey.
Chants of "Asha Tai amar rahe" went up in the crowds gathered for a last glimpse of the singing star who ruled playlists -- and hearts -- for eight decades.
A giant photograph of Bhosle, radiant in a red sari with her trademark bindi and an ornate nose ring, was placed on the flower-decked bier as the procession made its way through the streets.
Earlier in the day, Bhosle's body, in a glass casket and draped in the tricolour, was kept at her home for mourners to pay their last respects.
Her songs across the decades -- "Aao Huzoor Tumko", "Aaiye Meherban", "Jhumka Gira Re", "Dil Cheez Kya Hai", "O Saathi Re" and "Yai Re Yai Re" -- played softly in the background.
A reminder as it were that the singer may be gone but her songs will live on forever.
Veteran actors Asha Parekh and Helen, Ranveer Singh, Tabu, composer AR Rahman, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and political leaders Uddhav Thackeray, Praful Patel and Supriya Sule were among those who gathered at her residence.
Bhosle was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Maharashtra Bhushan.
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