The Delhi High Court today issued notice on a plea moved by Sharjeel Imam against a trial court order denying him statutory bail in a Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and sedition case.
A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain sought response of the Delhi Police within two weeks and listed the matter for further hearing in April. The matter relates to the alleged inflammatory speeches made by him in Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia area in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Sharjeel Imam had sought statutory bail in the case for having undergone one half of the maximum seven years punishment. The trial court on February 17 dismissed his plea observing that his speeches and activities mobilised the public which disrupted Delhi and might be the main reason for the outbreak of the 2020 Delhi riots.
He was booked under FIR 22 of 2020 lodged by Delhi Police’s Special Branch. Notably, while the case was initially registered for the offence of sedition, Section 13 of UAPA was invoked later. Imam has been in custody since January 28, 2020.
Earlier, the trial court had said that although the applicant did not ask anybody to pick the weapons and kill the people, his speeches and activities mobilised the public which disrupted the national capital and might be the main reason in the outbreak of the riots. It further added that through inflammatory speeches and social media, the applicant skillfully manipulated the real facts and incited the public in order to create havoc in the city.
The trial court had framed charges against Sharjeel Imam in the FIR in January last year. The accused has been charged for the offences under Section 124A (sedition), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc.), 153B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC along with Section 13 (Punishment for unlawful activities) of the UAPA.
In June 2023, Imam had moved the Delhi High Court challenging proceedings against him in two different cases for the same speech delivered at Jamia Millia Islamia University in December 2019. The case is pending adjudication.