The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned for two weeks the hearing of the bail plea of rights activist Umar Khalid in connection with the February 2020 communal violence in the national capital for which he has been in jail for over two years.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi said the matter needs to be heard on a “non-miscellaneous day” as it required elaborate hearing of arguments.

“This has to go on a non-miscellaneous day,” the bench said while adjourning the matter.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are non-miscellaneous days in the apex court.

On August 9, the matter had to be abruptly adjourned as Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, who was sitting in a bench presided over by Justice A.S. Bopanna, recused himself from the hearing Khalid’s bail plea.

No reason was attributed as there is no protocol for disclosing reasons. Judges normally recuse themselves from matters where they might have either appeared as counsel or for some personal reasons to avoid allegations of conflict of interest.

On May 18, the apex court had sought the response of the Delhi police on Khalid’s plea for granting him bail. He was arrested on September 4, 2020, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) following the communal flare-up against the backdrop of the anti-CAA protests.

The then bench of Justices Bopanna and Hima Kohli had at that time, while issuing notice to the Delhi police, posted the matter for further hearing after six weeks.