"Maintain Peace": Supreme Court tells Delhi Riots accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider and Others

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Mohd Saleem Khan accused in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, offering major relief to those booked under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

While doing so, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria has directed the accused to maintain peace. This direction forms a part of the various conditions put on the accused while granting them the relief of bail. "The appellants shall maintain peace and good behaviour throughout and in the event of any offence committed during the pendency of the trial, the prosecution would be at liberty to seek for revocation of the bail granted by filing such application before the Trial Court and in the event of such application being filed the Trial Court shall consider it on its own merits", the judgment notes.

Additionally, the Supreme Court has directed Fatima and others to not make or publish or disseminate any information, statement, article or post whether in print, electronic or social media concerning the present case or its participants till conclusion of the trial. They are also not to participate in any programme or address or attend any gathering, rally or meeting, whether physically or virtually till conclusion of the trial.

The bench has also stopped them from circulating any post either in electronic form or physical form or circulate any hand bills, posters, banners, etc in any form whatsoever.

As per the Supreme Court 142-page judgment, certain other conditions, have been imposed not as matters of form, but as substantive safeguards in the interest of national security, public order, and the integrity of the trial process. They are:

i. Each of the accused have to execute a personal bond in the sum of ₹2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs only) with two local sureties of the like sum to the satisfaction of the Trial Court.

ii. They shall remain within the National Capital Territory of Delhi and shall not leave its territorial limits without prior permission of the Trial Court. Any request for travel shall disclose reasons and such prayer/request shall be considered by the Trial Court strictly on its merits

ii. They have been asked to surrender their passports, if any, before the Trial Court. Where no passport exists, an affidavit to that effect shall be filed. Furthermore, the state has been directed to intimate all the immigration authorities in the country not to permit their exit from the country in any manner whatsoever, without express permission from the Trial Court.

iii. Current residential addresses, contact numbers, and e-mail addresses are also to be furnished to the Investigating Officer as well as to the Trial Court. The accused shall not change their place of residence or contact particulars without giving at least seven days’ prior written intimation to the Investigating Officer and the Trial Court.

iv. Each of the accused shall personally appear twice a week, that is on Monday and Thursday between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, before the Station House Officer, Police Station Crime Branch, Delhi Police, Office of the Commissioner of Police, Police Headquarters, Jai Singh Marg, New Delhi – 110001 and mark their attendance. The Station House Officer shall maintain a separate register of attendance in respect of each of these appellants and shall furnish a monthly compliance report to the Trial Court, which shall be placed on the main record of the case.

v. They are to not directly or indirectly contact, influence, intimidate or attempt to contact any witness or any person connected with the proceedings, nor shall they associate with or participate in the activities of any group or organization linked to the subject matter of the present FIR/ final report.

vi. Court has also asked them to fully cooperate with the trial and shall appear on every date of hearing unless exempted for reasons to be recorded by the Trial Court to its satisfaction and they shall not exhibit any conduct that has the effect of delaying the proceedings.

In granting bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider and others, the Bench found that the role attributed to them, the nature of the material placed on record, and the length of their incarceration justified the grant of liberty at the pre-trial stage. The Court underlined that indiscriminate pre-trial detention would undermine constitutional guarantees and risk converting bail denial into a form of punishment.

The accused had been in custody for several years in connection with the alleged larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 Delhi riots, which claimed over 50 lives and led to widespread violence in northeast Delhi. They were charged under multiple provisions of the IPC and UAPA for allegedly participating in protests and meetings said to have culminated in the violence.

As part of the same verdict, Supreme Court has denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, holding that they stood on a different footing and that a prima facie case under the UAPA was made out against them. It stressed that parity cannot be applied mechanically and that differentiation between accused is a constitutional necessity.

The case stems from the violence that erupted in Northeast Delhi in 2020 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The clashes between supporters and opponents of the Act led to large-scale incidents of stone-pelting, arson, and violence, leaving 53 people dead and injuring thousands.

Case Title: Gulfisha Fatima v. State of NCT of Delhi and connected matters

Bench: Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria

Pronouncement Date: January 5, 2026