The Hindu editorial on 05/09/2025 criticizes the Delhi High Court’s repeated denial of bail to Umar Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, arguing that it exemplifies how special laws like the UAPA turn pre-trial detention into punishment. By upholding Section 43D(5) of the UAPA, which bars bail if accusations appear prima facie true, courts effectively accept the prosecution’s narrative without deeper scrutiny, leaving the accused jailed indefinitely. While a different bench in 2021 distinguished dissent from terrorism and granted bail to other activists, the current ruling blurs protest with terror, punishing constitutional freedoms. The editorial warns that this approach, compounded by judicial deference to state anxieties and slow trials, erodes Articles 19 and 21, hollowing out the guarantees of liberty and free expression by allowing prolonged incarceration to substitute for conviction.
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