Distinguish Sharjeel role in Delhi riots: Court
The Delhi Police said Imam could not be compared to other accused since different roles were attributed to different accused in the case
The Delhi high court on Monday directed the Delhi Police to file a chart distinguishing the role of student activist Sharjeel Imam — booked under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA for allegedly instigating the February 2020 Delhi riots — from his three co-accused who were granted bail in the same case in 2021.
A bench of justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain also asked the police and Imam’s counsel to file their written submissions and posted the plea for February 19.
Imam had approached Delhi high court against a city court’s April 2022 order rejecting his bail. He, in his petition, had contended that the city court had failed to appreciate that the entire investigation was faulty and the chargesheet attributed events to his speeches to the incidents of violence that were not directly or indirectly connected to him.
“The appellant has been arrested by the investigating agency as a part of a targeted campaign to have multiple FIRs and investigations against the appellant at the same time,” read Imam’s plea.
To be sure, the Delhi high court — in view of Supreme Court’s May 2023 order upholding the release of Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha — had asked the Delhi Police and Imam’s counsel to argue if he could also be granted bail on the ground of parity.
On Monday, Imam’s counsel submitted that he was entitled to bail since six out of the 18 accused that were named in the first information report (FIR) were already released. Opposing the submission, the Delhi Police appearing through special public prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad, submitted that he could not be compared to other accused since different roles were attributed to different accused in the case.