The Supreme Court on Wednesday for the seventh consecutive time postponed the bail plea of Umar Khalid, the former JNU student leader who had been in custody for nearly three years after being arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots.

The matter will now be heard on January 31. A bench of Justice Bela M. Trivedi and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan adjourned the matter when it came up for hearing around 1pm on the ground that the bench would sit in a different combination post-lunch.

Khalid is seeking bail on grounds of parity with the other co-accused — Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha — who have been released.

Additionally, Khalid has filed a separate petition challenging the constitutional validity of the UAPA.

Senior advocate C.U. Singh, who appeared for Khalid, told the bench on Wednesday: “We are prepared, unfortunately this bench is rising after lunch. It’s a bail application.”

However, Justice Trivedi said the bench would sit in a different combination post-lunch. The court said in a brief order: “List on January 31, high on the board.”

At the last hearing on January 10, Khalid’s bail plea had been adjourned to January 24, which was the sixth such adjournment in a row. On January 10, the bench of Justices Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal had warned that no further adjournment would be granted.

The bench on January 10 had minced no words in expressing displeasure over the repeated adjournments, pointing out that the delay in the hearing was on account of the failure of the respective parties to argue the matter, but an impression was gaining ground that the court was not hearing it.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khalid, had sought adjournment by a week since he was engaged in a seven-judge constitution bench matter dealing with the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University. On Wednesday, Sibal was busy with the same constitution bench matter.

“You please argue the case, we are not going to adjourn the matter. We can’t grant you any exemption,” Justice Trivedi, heading the bench, had told Sibal at the last hearing.

Besides Khalid’s bail plea, the court was on Wednesday scheduled to take up a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the UAPA, which critics complain is being increasingly used against political opponents and journalists by parties in power.

Khalid’s bail plea had been adjourned during a hearing on November 29, 2023, as well. A bench of Justices Trivedi and Satish Chandra had done so upon a joint request made by counsels appearing on behalf of senior advocate Sibal, representing Khalid, and additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju, representing the Delhi police.

While Raju at that time was stated to be indisposed, Sibal was engaged in other courts when the matter came up for hearing.

Justice Trivedi wanted to hear the matter again on December 6, 2023, but since Sibal was not available on that date, it was adjourned to January 10.

Repeated adjournments are not uncommon.