Overview
- A Delhi sessions court directed police to verify the local sureties for the five people granted bail, with release orders expected once checks are completed.
- The Supreme Court applied an individualized assessment, finding a prima facie case that placed Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in central roles, while categorizing five others as facilitators.
- The bench clarified that long pre-trial incarceration does not automatically override UAPA’s Section 43D(5) bar where the court is satisfied the accusations are prima facie true.
- The five granted bail — Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed — must furnish Rs 2 lakh bonds with two local sureties, stay in Delhi, surrender passports, report twice weekly, avoid contact with witnesses, and refrain from protests or public commentary on the case.
- The trial remains stalled at the stage of framing charges, with the court noting the voluminous record — over 1,000 documents and hundreds of witnesses — and urging expeditious proceedings.