India, Sept. 6 -- Student activist Sharjeel Imam on Saturday approached the Supreme Court, seeking bail in the larger conspiracy case linked to the February 2020 Delhi riots, three days after the Delhi high court refused to grant him relief.

Imam, arrested on January 28, 2020, has now spent over five years in pre-trial detention. His petition, filed through advocate Fauzia Shakil, assails the Delhi high court's September 2 order, arguing that his incarceration has been prolonged due to systemic delays in the trial, for which he cannot be blamed. The denial of bail despite over half a decade of custody amounts to punishing an undertrial, the petition contends, urging the Supreme Court to secure his liberty.

On September 2, a bench of Jus...