The Delhi High Court will hear on July 9 the bail application of activist Sharjeel Imam in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi riots case, after the matter was adjourned on Tuesday at the request of the prosecution seeking more time.
A division bench comprising Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur was slated to take up the plea, but deferred the hearing following the prosecution’s plea for adjournment.
Imam’s counsel argued that his client was “completely disconnected” from the time, place, and other accused persons allegedly involved in the conspiracy, including activist Umar Khalid. The bail application maintained that Imam’s speeches and WhatsApp communications contained no calls for violence or incitement of unrest.
The plea further asserted that Imam was not even present in Delhi after January 15, 2020, and was arrested in a separate case from his hometown in Bihar on January 28, 2020. As such, the petition claimed, Imam could not have participated in any alleged “conspiratorial meetings” related to the riots.
Imam, along with Khalid and several others, has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly masterminding the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi, which claimed 53 lives and left over 700 injured. The violence broke out in the backdrop of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Sharjeel Imam was formally arrested in the Delhi riots conspiracy case on August 25, 2020. The High Court is expected to hear substantive arguments in his bail plea during the upcoming proceedings.
