In the denial of bail, a miscarriage of justice

The Delhi riots case is a test of a society's commitment to the rule of law — and to justice

- Gautam Bhatia

The Delhi High Court's recent rejection of the bail petitions of nine activists who have been accused of various offences pertaining to the 2020 Delhi riots, perpetuates a grave miscarriage of justice.

The 2020 Delhi riots took place in the aftermath of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-National Register of Citizens (NRO), which were taking place across India in December 2019 and January 2020. During the communal violence that ensued, 54 people lost their lives.

The nine activists were, admittedly, part of the protests against the CAA-NRC. This, everyone agrees, is their legitimate constitutional and democratic right. Furthermore, there is no record of any of these activists having instigated or incited violence, or called for riots. Indeed, one of them, Umar Khalid, is on the record, in a public meeting, calling for peace and non-violence.

However, in order to link these nine activists to the riots that ensued, the State has argued that they were all part of a far-reaching conspiracy to foment communal violence as a means of protest. A conspiracy is something that is particularly easy to allege, as conspiracies, by their very nature, are secret and underground. They have also been the weapons of choice of regimes throughout history who wish to squelch dissent. Proving a conspiracy, on the other hand, is rather more difficult.