Sharjeel Imam moved to the Delhi HC, challenging the denial of his bail by a special court

BENCH: Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar 

Sharjeel Imam, a JNU student, approached the Delhi High Court challenging the special court’s order, wherein the special court had denied him bail in the Delhi riots case.

On April 11, 2022, the Additional Sessions Judge of Karkardoom Courts, dismissed Imam's plea holding him a part of the conspiracy to cause riots. Imam filed the appeal through advocates Ahmad Ibrahim, Talib Mustafa and Kartik Venu, who argued that the special court failed to appreciate that the charge sheet attributes events that show that the appellant was not directly or indirectly connected to the violence.

They further said that Imam was arrested as part of a targeted campaign to have numerous FIRs and investigations against him at the same time. The Delhi HC has already seized another bail appeal by Imam.

Background

Imam is seeking bail for allegedly giving provocative speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019, and at the Aligarh Muslim University in January 2020, about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Various FIRs were registered against him framing UAPA and sedition charges.