Umar Khalid is not my mentor, Sharjeel Imam tells Delhi court

Activist Sharjeel Imam on Thursday (January 8, 2026) submitted in a Delhi court that Umar Khalid is not his mentor and that the allegations of the police about the two having coordinated for the 2020 riots is false.

Both Mr. Imam and Mr. Khalid were denied bail this week by the Supreme Court in the case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the February 2020 riots in New Delhi. 

The submissions were made before Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sameer Bajpai of Karkardooma Courts by Mr. Imam’s counsel Talib Mustafa, who stressed that his client and Mr. Khalid never had any connection with each other.

He had never spoken to Mr. Khalid in the five years he spent at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Mr. Imam’s counsel said on his behalf.

“I don’t know what coordination police is talking about,” he said refuting the claim of the police that Mr. Khalid had instructed Mr. Imam.

The submissions were made during the hearing of framing of charges on North East Delhi riots-2020 larger conspiracy case in which 18 people have been made accused by the police and were booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) apart from various other charges.

The other accused in the case are Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, Devangana Kalita, Faizan Khan and Natasha Narwal.

On Monday (January 5), the Supreme Court granted bail to five accused persons in this case. The top court, however, denied bail to Mr. Imam and Mr. Khalid stating that their roles was “central and formative” in the orchestration of the violence that left over 50 dead and several injured.