India, Sept. 11 -- The Delhi High Court's recent rejection of the bail petitions of nine activists who have been accused of various offences pertaining to the 2020 Delhi riots, perpetuates a grave miscarriage of justice. The 2020 Delhi riots took place in the aftermath of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-National Register of Citizens (NRC), which were taking place across India in December 2019 and January 2020. During the communal violence that ensued, 54 people lost their lives.

The nine activists were, admittedly, part of the protests against the CAA-NRC. This, everyone agrees, is their legitimate constitutional and democratic right. Furthermore, there is no record of any of these activists having instigated or ...