The Supreme Court’s January order denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam has thwarted their latest bid for release, with the Delhi High Court holding that it cannot override conditions laid down by the apex court.A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Dinesh Bhatt on Wednesday dismissed the bail appeals of Khalid and Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, noting that the Supreme Court had allowed them to seek bail afresh only after January 2027 or once protected witnesses were examined, whichever was earlier.“…this court cannot find fault with the order passed by the trial court. The present appeals are therefore dismissed,” the Bench said, referring to the conditions imposed by the Supreme Court in Gulfisha Fatima vs State.This was the third rejection of bail for Khalid by the High Court and the second for Imam.Khalid and Imam had challenged the trial court’s July 4 order rejecting their bail pleas. They had argued that the continued delay in the trial constituted a change in circumstances warranting reconsideration of their custody. Their pleas also relied on subsequent Supreme Court observations in Syed Iftikhar Andrabi and Tasleem Ahmed, in which the issue of prolonged incarceration and delay in trial had come up for consideration.Senior advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Khalid, submitted that the trial was unlikely to conclude in the near future and that continued incarceration could not be justified indefinitely.He also pointed out that there were 18 accused in the case and a majority had already secured bail from the Supreme Court.Advocate Talib Mustafa, representing Imam, argued that the Supreme Court itself had indicated in January that continued incarceration without progress in the trial could provide grounds for seeking bail again.The prosecution, however, maintained that the subsequent judgments relied upon by the accused did not dilute the specific directions issued by the Supreme Court in Khalid and Imam’s own case.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that the roles attributed to Khalid and Imam could not be equated with those of the accused who had been granted bail. The prosecution maintained that, under the January Supreme Court order, the two could seek bail again only after January 2027 or after the protected witnesses had been examined.The Supreme Court had in January granted bail to five accused in the larger conspiracy case but declined relief to Khalid and Imam. While doing so, it permitted them to renew their pleas after the specified conditions were met.The two subsequently moved the trial court, which rejected their pleas on July 4, leading to the present appeals before the High Court.The High Court, while considering the fresh pleas, noted that the January Supreme Court order remained binding and that granting bail before fulfilment of the conditions would effectively amount to modifying that order.The Bench, therefore, found no ground to interfere with the trial court’s decision.