Delhi HC to hear Sharjeel Imam’s pleas for release in 2020 sedition case

NEW DELHI: Delhi high court on Tuesday said it would hear on January 30 two separate applications by Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam seeking regular bail and interim bail in connection with a 2020 riots case involving allegations of sedition.
The court preponed the date of hearing of the regular bail plea from April to January 30, when it will also hear the plea seeking interim bail.
The division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh, which was hearing Imam’s petition for interim bail pursuant to the Supreme Court direction to keep Section 124A (sedition) in abeyance observed, “Two of your appeals are pending for the same FIR. We will hear them together; you can’t agitate same issue more than once. It can’t be heard like this.”
The counsel for Imam submitted before the court that his plea for regular bail was coming up for hearing in April and he had sought interim release until the top court decides the constitutional validity of the offence of sedition.
The court observed that the Supreme Court had not ordered the release of those facing sedition charges and in the current case, Imam had been charged with offences other than sedition as well.
“The end result of both (pleas) is the same. You can’t have it both ways. We have two bail applications before us today. We can’t hear you today and then later. We will hear you together. Nowhere has Supreme Court said that you have to be enlarged on bail,” the court said.
Imam’s plea challenging the framing of charges in the matter is also pending before the high court. Last year, the trial court ordered framing of charges against Imam under sections 124A (sedition), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 153A (promoting enmity), l53B (imputations prejudicial to national integration) of Indian Penal Code, and Section 13 (punishment for unlawful activities) under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
According to the prosecution, Imam had allegedly made speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019 and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019 threatening to cut off Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India.