Delhi High Court Junks Sharjeel Imam's Plea Seeking Urgent Hearing Of Bail Plea

Sharjeel Imam's petition stated that his bail plea has been listed atleast 62 times before seven different benches, after a notice was issued for the first time on his plea.

Sharjeel Imam moved the court for early hearing of his bail plea stating that it has been pending since April 2022.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by Sharjeel Imam seeking an early or urgent hearing of his bail petition. His bail plea is scheduled for hearing on October 7, along with bail pleas of other accused persons in the Delhi Riots case.

 

A division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpalia refused an early hearing today. Sharjeel Imam moved the court for early hearing of his bail plea stating that it has been pending since April 2022.

Sharjeel Imam's petition stated that his bail plea has been listed atleast 62 times before seven different benches, after a notice was issued for the first time on his plea. He further prayed that trial is likely to be protracted in the case as the probe is still on and more than 1,000 witnesses are to be examined. 

Sharjeel Imam was arrested by the Delhi Police under the stringent provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He has been accused of being the main conspirator behind the North-east Delhi riots of February 2020.

It may be recalled that on May 20, the Delhi High Court granted statutory bail to JNU scholar and student activist Sharjeel Imam in connection with a 2020 communal riots case involving allegations of sedition.

 

However, Imam remained in judicial custody in 2020 North East Delhi riots conspiracy case. Imam also has several other cases pending against him in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. But, he is not in custody in these cases. He can be released if he secures bail in the 2020 North East Delhi riots case.

 

Imam was charged with the offence of sedition by the Delhi Police in 2020 for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia concerning the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA). Later, Section 13 (punishment for unlawful activities) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, was invoked against him under which the maximum punishment prescribed is seven years.