On Friday, February 17, Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of Delhi’s Karkardooma court rejected a statutory bail for Sharjeel Imam in a sedition and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case filed against him for his provocative speeches in Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University during anti-CAA protests in Delhi on December 13, 2019, and January 16, 2020, respectively.
Sharjeel Imam completed four years in jail on 28 January 2024.
Delhi court denies bail to Sharjeel Imam in the sedition and UAPA case against him over the alleged inflammatory speeches made during CAA-NRC protests. pic.twitter.com/9ckjZAaZct
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) February 17, 2024
The Court noted that even though Sharjeel Imam did not ask anyone to pick up weapons, his speeches captured the minds of people of “a particular community” and might be the reason for the outbreak of riots in the city.
[Sharjeel Imam bail denial order in sedition case]
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) February 17, 2024
Delhi Court says even though Sharjeel Imam did not ask anyone to pick up weapons, his speeches captured the minds of people of "a particular community" and might be the reason for the outbreak of riots in the city.… pic.twitter.com/CSuW1RZ1iC
Imam petitioned that he was entitled to statutory bail because he had already served four out of the maximum sentence of seven years.
He argued that the Supreme Court of India had declared the crime of sedition to be inactive and that the UAPA provisions that were invoked against him had a maximum sentence of seven years.
In the meantime, the Delhi Police argued that the punishments for the offences invoked against him ought to be assessed cumulatively rather than concurrently.
The court after hearing both parties, pronounced the order today and rejected the bail plea.
The Delhi High Court will now hear Imam’s petition against the order framing sedition and the UAPA charges levelled against him on March 8.
Sharjeel Imam was arrested by Delhi Police on 28th January 2020, from Bihar over inflammatory speeches against the Citizenship Amendment Act, advocating for the secession of Assam from the rest of India.
The accusations against Sharjeel Imam were framed under sections 124A (sedition), 153A, 153B, 505 of the IPC, and 13 of the UAPA as per Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat.
Imam has been charged with sedition, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, imputations prejudicial to national integration, and public mischief under the Indian Penal Code, and indulging in unlawful activities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against Sharjeel Imam in the matter, alleging that he offered statements inciting hatred, contempt, and disaffection toward the central government, as well as instigating the people who resulted in the December 2019 riots.
In January 2022, Delhi’s Karkardooma court slapped a fresh sedition charge against Sharjeel Imam over his provocative anti-CAA speeches.
In July 2022, the trial court rejected his first bail application in this case.
Who is Sharjeel Imam
Imam was arrested in 2020 from Jehanabad, Bihar. He is a former Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and one of the key members of the group that organized Shaheen Bagh protests against CAA. Multiple FIRs were filed against Imam for a speech in which he allegedly asked the protestors to cut off Assam from India. FIRs were filed at Police stations in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. He also got bail in the cases filed at Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Imam was accused of making provocative speeches outside Jamia Milia Islamia University in December 2019 that led to violence outside the campus. In April 2020, he was charged with sedition by Delhi Police. According to the FIR, his speech promoted enmity between communities that led to the riots at the area where the University is located.
Another FIR in the Jamia case was registered against Imam in the Aligarh district. Both FIRs were registered in January 2020 under Sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever), 153B (making statements provoking breach of peace) and 505(2) (statements made which are alarming, false intention to create disharmony) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
