Police oppose Khalid, Imam's bail plea in SC

The Delhi Police on Thursday told the Supreme Court that video clips of speeches by Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid and other accused in the Delhi riots conspiracy case, together with WhatsApp chats and witness accounts, showed that the anti-CAA protests were far from peaceful.

- Ayesha Arvind

Instead, the police claimed, the evidence showed a "planned campaign for economic blockade" and "regime change", driven by "intellectuals", doctors and engineers who had traded their professions for "anti-national" activities.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju, who appeared for the Delhi Police, opposed the bail applications filed by Imam, Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed, all accused in the case, and told the Supreme Court that the evidence reflected a deliberate effort to "destabilise the (union) government" under the cover of agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act.