This was what jailed human rights activist Umar Khalid had to say to his friend Banojyotsna Lahiri over the phone from Tihar after the Supreme Court denied his bail plea. She told Umar that five co-accused had received bail while he and Sharjeel Imam, another former student activist, had not. “We will have to wait for around a year, until the prosecution witnesses are examined, before we can approach the lower court for bail…. Shakra Begum, mother of Gulfisha Fatima — the lone woman to face prolonged imprisonment in the case — struggled to find words after the court granted bail to her daughter, arrested on April 9, 2020. Haider too was granted bail.

Source: The Telegraph January 06, 2026 06:03 UTC