Delhi High Court grants bail to Sharjeel Imam in 2020 Delhi riots case

PTC News Desk: Scholar Sharjeel Imam of JNU was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday in connection with a communal rioting case from 2020 that involved charges of sedition and illegal activity. A bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain granted the bail.

In connection with the sedition and UAPA cases, Sharjeel Imam was taken into custody for allegedly making provocative remarks at Aligarh Muslim University and the Jamia neighborhood in Delhi during the riots.

Even though Sharjeel Imam had already served more than half of the maximum sentence that might have been imposed on him in the event of a conviction, he challenged a trial court judgment that denied him bail.

After hearing from the lawyers for Sharjeel Imam and the Delhi Police, a panel of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain declared, “Appeal is allowed.”

The Sharjeel Imam lawsuit

Sharjeel Imam allegedly threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the Northeast from the country during addresses at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019, according to the prosecution.

Imam was charged in the case that the Special Branch of the Delhi Police filed, which was first filed for the crime of sedition before Section 13 of the UAPA was used. In this regard, he has been detained since January 28, 2020.

What Sharjeel Imam said 

Before the trial court, Imam had stated that he had been detained for the previous four years and that, should he be found guilty, the maximum term for the offense under section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is seven years.

A person may be released from custody in accordance with Section 436-A CrPC if they have served more than half of the maximum term allowed for the offense.

After hearing the prosecution’s argument, the trial court decided that the accused’s custody might be prolonged for an additional amount of time in “exceptional circumstances,” even though it had refused to give him bail on February 17.

Imam is charged in a number of crimes related to the 2020 communal riots, including one involving an alleged wider conspiracy that instigated the violence. He’s also in detention in the conspiracy case.

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