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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, rejected the early hearing of the bail plea of Sharjeel Imam, an accused in the larger conspiracy of Northeast Delhi riots in 2020.

The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpalia maintained that the bail plea would be heard on the already scheduled date of October 7, 2024. 

The bail plea challenged the order, dated 11 February 2022, wherein the Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of Karkardooma court had previously denied any relief to the JNU student stating that Imam's speeches intended to create 'public disorder' and 'incitement to violence' and also appeared to challenge the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.

Advocates Talib Mustafa and Ahmad Ibrahim appearing for Imam in their plea urged for an urgent/early hearing of the bail application and sought to set aside the order passed by the Karkardooma Cout wherein his bail application was dismissed. 

The bail plea stated that the present appeal was listed for 29 August 2024. However, the High Court adjourned the matter to October 7. The plea emphasized that according to the provisions of the National Investigation Agency Act (NIA), the appeals that are preferred under section 21 shall be disposed of within 3 months from the date of admission. The present appeal has been listed 62 times before 7 different division benches of the Delhi High Court. Owing to the roster changes, recusal and transfer of judges the matter is never concluded which leads to fresh cycle of hearing every time.

The plea highlighted that the last substantial hearing in the present Appeal took place before the Division Bench comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain.

“The trial in the present matter is pending before Ld special court since 2020, However, the investigation is still pending and charges are yet to be framed. The prosecution seeks to examine 1,000 witnesses in the matter. Needless to say, the trial in present case shall be protracted and will take a long time, Imam was quoted as saying.’’

Furthermore, it was submitted before the High Court that the Apex Court in several judgments has categorically stated that bail applications ought to be decided expeditiously and preferably within 2-4 weeks and several guidelines/ directions have also been repeatedly issued to all the High Courts and District Courts in order to conclude the same. 

The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain had granted bail to Sharjeel Imam noting that an accused who is pursuing their legal remedies following specific judicial pronouncements could not be held accountable for any delays in the proceedings. Sharjeel Imam, however, will remain imprisoned due to ongoing charges related to the larger conspiracy case of the Delhi riots involving charges under UAPA. 

Background

Sharjeel Imam was taken into custody in January 2020 after he allegedly delivered several provocative speeches that were accused of inciting violence during anti-CAA demonstrations in Delhi and other states.  

These cases were filed under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Imam for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in the Jamia area in Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizenship (NRC) in 2020.

Notably, two speeches delivered by Sharjeel Imam in December 2019 were included in the charge sheet. The first address was delivered in Delhi on December 13, 2019, and the second one was delivered in Aligarh on December 16. His remarks allegedly incited violence on December 15, 2019, during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, according to the police. 

Case Title: Sharjeel Imam v State (CRL.M.A. 26691/2024)