New Delhi, May 19 -- The Supreme Court's critical observation on the denial of bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar and Delhi riots accused Umar Khalid could brighten his prospects of challenging the decision against him by filing a curative petition, a member of Khalid's legal team said. Khalid, along with his co-accused Sharjeel Imam, were denied bail by the top court on January 5 by a two-judge bench of Supreme Court justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria. Later, Khalid preferred a review petition that met the same fate as it was declined by the judges sitting in chambers (not in open court) on April 16. The last legal remedy left for Khalid to challenge the judgment against him is to file a curative petition. Such petitions are heard by a larger bench comprising the judges who have decided the case along with the top three judges of the Supreme Court (including the Chief Justice of India). The scope of filing a curative petition is extremely limited - they are admitted only if a litigant can show that they were not given a fair hearing, that there was bias in the judgment, or that the court's process was abused in a way that caused grave injustice. Such petitions are decided in chambers unless the judges decide to list the matter in open court. Khalid is yet to file a curative petition. Imam has still not filed his review petition against the January 5 judgment. However, Khalid's legal team believes that the present judgment gives a ray of hope for both to appeal....