Delhi riots conspiracy case: Imam, Khalid ‘planned’ campaign, anti-CAA protests not peaceful, cops tell SC

The Delhi Police’s counsel opposed the bail pleas of Sharjee Imam, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed

New Delhi

The court asked whether showing clips at the bail stage was appropriate and if it would not amount to the court evaluating evidence. (HT Archive)

The Delhi Police on Thursday told the Supreme Court that video clips of speeches by Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid and other accused in the Delhi riots conspiracy case, together with WhatsApp chats and witness accounts, showed that the anti-CAA protests were far from peaceful. Instead, the police claimed, the evidence showed a “planned campaign for economic blockade” and “regime change”, driven by “intellectuals”, doctors and engineers who had traded their professions for “anti-national” activities.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju, who appeared for the Delhi Police, opposed the bail applications filed by Imam, Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed, all accused in the case, and told the Supreme Court that the evidence reflected a deliberate effort to “destabilise the (union) government” under the cover of agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Raju argued that the material cited by the police in the charge sheet “completely destroyed” the narrative of peaceful civil protest.

Raju then played before a bench of justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria a montage-style video, containing snippets from several speeches made by Sharjeel Imam that allegedly preceded the 2020 riots in the national capital. In one such clip, Imam was shown speaking about blocking the “chicken neck” corridor and separating Assam from the rest of India. In another, he laid out a plan to “paralyse Delhi” through a “chakka jam”, cutting off essential supplies, such as milk and vegetables.

He pointed out that Imam had a degree in engineering. “Nowadays, there is a trend that doctors, engineers, and intellectuals are not practising their professions. They are leaving their professional duties and engaging in anti-national activities,” Raju told the court.

The ASG said these speeches proved the intention to cripple the capital’s economic lifelines. The ASG also highlighted portions where Imam was seen criticising the judiciary, the apex court in particular, telling crowds not to expect justice on the CAA because of earlier Supreme Court rulings on triple talaq and the Babri Masjid dispute.

Advocate Siddhartha Dave, who appeared for the accused, however, countered that the police had handpicked “snippets” from Imam’s hours-long speeches to create “prejudice” and insisted that the full recordings painted a different picture. Raju told the bench that the entire material and speech transcripts were part of the charge sheet.

The court asked whether showing clips at the bail stage was appropriate and if it would not amount to the court evaluating evidence.

Raju said the parties had agreed not to argue on merit, but he was simply narrating the contents of the charge sheet. The ASG also attacked what he called the “intellectual facade” surrounding the accused.

He said every time the court took up the bail hearing in the case, “foreign news outlets, such as the New York Times”, extended sympathetic coverage and support campaigns on social media sprouted, attempting to portray the accused as academics and thinkers being persecuted for dissent.

Such a narrative, however, Raju said, “masked the scale of the alleged conspiracy.”

The court will continue hearing the arguments on Friday.