Activist Sharjeel Imam urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to grant him bail in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, arguing that he had no participation or role in the violence and has already spent nearly six years in custody as an undertrial.
Appearing before a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, representing Imam, submitted that the prosecution’s case rested solely on alleged “inflammatory speeches” delivered by the activist.
Dave acknowledged that some words used in the speeches may be “unpalatable”, but questioned whether a speech alone could constitute a criminal conspiracy. “Is a speech by itself conspiratorial in nature? Does it? And it is not a speech which is only one way. I have shown to your lordships, he gives a call for non-violence. He says you take the beating, don’t attack. That is what he is saying,” Dave argued.
He pointed out that Imam was arrested on January 28, 2020, while the Delhi riots took place nearly a month later, between February 22 and 24. “Today, he is standing before your lordships asking for bail. After almost six years in custody, your lordships may kindly consider that he be released on bail particularly when he is not physically present and not an accused in any of those cases of where the actual riots took place,” he submitted.
Dave said conspiracy necessarily requires a “meeting of minds” and stressed that Imam was already in jail before the violence erupted. He added that around 750 FIRs were registered in connection with the riots, but Imam was not named in any of them. He cited the principle of parity, noting that others who were allegedly physically present during the riots had already been granted bail.
“As a citizen of this country, I have hope and I make a prayer to your lordships that it is almost six years of incarceration. It is a long period for somebody to be as an undertrial,” he said.
Senior advocates Salman Khurshid, Sidharth Luthra and others also presented arguments on behalf of other accused persons. The hearing will continue on Wednesday.
The Delhi Police has strongly opposed the bail pleas of Imam, Umar Khalid and other accused, maintaining that the February 2020 violence was not a spontaneous outburst but an “orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed” attack on the nation’s sovereignty. The accused have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and provisions of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” behind the riots, which claimed 53 lives and left more than 700 people injured.
The clashes took place amid widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The accused are before the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court’s September 2 order denying them bail in the alleged “larger conspiracy” case related to the riots.
