Delhi riots case: Sharjeel Imam moves HC seeking relief in trial court order

New Delhi, April 29

Activist Sharjeel Imam has approached the Delhi High Court, challenging the trial court order which refused him bail in a larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.

Imam's appeal is likely to be heard on Friday before the division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar.

"There is absolutely no material has been adduced by the prosecution, attributed to the Appellant from which it could even remotely be suggested that the Appellant at any point in time had any intention to cause/incite violence. Rather from the material relied upon by the prosecution itself, which the Ld. Special Court has failed to take into consideration, it is manifestly clear that the Appellant to the contrary had on multiple occasions very categorically and emphatically called the protestors to not resort to violence at any cost," said his appeal.

Special Judge Amitabh Rawat on April 11 had dismissed the bail application of Sharjeel.

According to the police, Imam made alleged inflammatory speeches in Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, on December 13, 2019, and Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, on January 16, 2020.

He has been in judicial custody since January 28, 2020, and is currently lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi.

The order on the bail application of 'United Against Hate' campaign founder, Khalid Saifi, who is allegedly involved in a larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, will be pronounced on March 31.

The riots broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 after clashes between the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn.

The mayhem, which coincided with the then US President Donald Trump's maiden trip to India, saw more than 50 people lose their lives and over 700 injured.