The SC’s January order had also observed that only on the completion of the examination of protected witnesses or upon expiry of one year from the date of said order, whichever is earlier, Sharjeel and Umar would be at liberty to renew their prayer for grant of bail.

Charges have not yet been framed by the trial court. According to the prosecution, the trial court has heard arguments on framing of charge from the accused for “more than 200 days”.

What Sharjeel argued today

On Friday, Sharjeel, through his counsel, told the HC bench of Justices Prathiba Singh and Vikas Mahajan that there have been subsequent developments since SC’s order.

His counsel pointed to a Supreme Court judgment delivered in May, in which the court expressed “serious reservations” about various aspects of the January ruling that had denied him bail. The bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had made these observations while granting bail to a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, Syed Ifthikar Andrabi, in custody since 2020. Andrabi faces charges under the UAPA in a narco-terror case investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Sharjeel is also seeking bail on the grounds of delay in trial and prolonged incarceration for over six-and-a-half years. The trial has remained stagnant even seven months after the Supreme Court rejected his bail plea. Sharjeel’s counsel argued that “stagnation of trial too entitles him to bail.”

The court issued notice to the Delhi Police, seeking their response by the next date of hearing on August 27.