The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted statutory bail to student leader Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 riots case. Sharjeel Imam was arrested on charges of sedition and unlawful activities. However, Sharjeel Imam will still have to remain in jail in other cases. Sharjeel Imam allegedly gave a speech at Jamia Millia Islamia on 13 December 2019 and at Aligarh Muslim University on 16 December 2019, where he threatened to cut off Assam and other northeastern states from the country.
The case was registered against Sharjeel Imam by the Special Branch of Delhi Police. He has been in custody since January 28, 2020. Sharjeel Imam had said in the petition that the maximum punishment under the sections under which the case is going on is 7 years, of which he has already served half the sentence. Therefore, he should be granted statutory bail.
A bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain accepted Sharjeel Imam's bail plea. He had challenged the trial court's order denying statutory bail in the case. Lawyers Talib Mustafa and Ahmed Ibrahim appeared on behalf of Sharjeel Imam. SPP Rajat Nair represented the Delhi Police.
What arguments were given?
Mustafa, representing Sharjeel Imam, said that Sharjeel has already served four years and seven months out of the maximum sentence of seven years. However, Nair opposed the petition on the ground that Sharjeel Imam has not served half the sentence.
He said that Sharjeel Imam's case completely falls under Section 436A of the CrPC and hence he is not entitled to any statutory bail. Sharjeel Imam was booked under FIR 22 by the Special Branch of Delhi Police. Initially the case was registered for the offence of sedition, later Section 13 of UAPA was imposed.
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