The long-drawn legal battle surrounding the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots "larger conspiracy" case has reached a significant turning point in the highest court of the land. A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice P.B. Varale has orally indicated a strong inclination to grant relief to co-accused Khalid Saifi and Tasleem Ahmed. In a reassuring statement directed at the defense counsel, Justice Kumar remarked, “In all probability, you will get relief,” signaling a potential breakthrough for the two undertrials who have spent over five years in continuous custody under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The positive shift in the judicial atmosphere follows an intense push by the defense team, which focused heavily on the principle of parity and the sheer duration of the petitioners' incarceration without a trial in sight. Senior Advocate Rebecca John, representing activist Khalid Saifi, argued that her client’s alleged actions were entirely peripheral compared to the primary accused. Similarly, Advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for Tasleem Ahmed, forcefully presented his client as a minor figure in the wider prosecution narrative, metaphorically describing him as "the sidekick of a sidekick" whose alleged principals have already secured their freedom through prior court orders.
The sudden willingness of the bench to lean toward granting relief has met with aggressive institutional resistance from the Delhi Police. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju sought a temporary adjournment to construct a comprehensive opposition, raising broader procedural alarms. The prosecution argued that the legal standards governing bail under UAPA have become deeply complicated by conflicting rulings from coordinate two-judge benches of the apex court, specifically pointing to a recent verdict which forcefully re-established that "bail is the rule and jail is an exception" even under specialized anti-terror laws.