A Delhi court on Monday dismissed the bail application of former JNU student Sharjeel Imam in a case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 North-east Delhi riots.
Special Judge Amitabh Rawat denied relief to Imam, who is accused of making inflammatory speeches against the government on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC), particularly at Jamia Milia Islamia University in December 2019, which allegedly led to violence in the area outside the university.
Imam is also facing sedition charges for his alleged inflammatory speeches. Last month, the Delhi High Court had asked Delhi Police to respond to Imam’s plea challenging the framing of a sedition charge against him in a case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made by him during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 2019. A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anoop Kumar Mendiratta issued notice to the police and listed the matter for further hearing on May 26.
As per the prosecution, Imam had allegedly made speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019, where he threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India. The prosecution has alleged that his speeches incited hatred, contempt, and disaffection towards the Central Government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019.
Imam is in judicial custody since January 2020. Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against Imam in the case, in which it alleged that he gave speeches inciting hatred, contempt, and disaffection towards the central government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019.
