Court Denies Bail to TISS Students for Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam Slogans

On 8 August 2026 a Mumbai Sessions Court rejected the anticipatory bail applications of two Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) students. The students were accused of raising slogans demanding the release of activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam during a gathering on 12 October 2025 that commemorated the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba.

Judge V B Bohra observed that, as students, the accused were expected to “respect the law of the land.” While seven other students implicated in the same case were granted bail, the court ordered custodial interrogation of the two denied bail applicants. The prosecution presented material allegedly recovered from the students’ electronic devices, including Maoist literature, but the judge noted that mere possession of such publications does not automatically constitute an offence. The students’ counsel denied that any slogans were uttered and described the allegations as “false narratives" circulated on social media.