The Supreme Court has asked the Delhi High Court to speed up the bail hearing of Sharjeel Imam, an accused in the Delhi riots case. Imam’s bail plea has been scheduled for November 25 by the Delhi High Court. During the case hearing, Imam’s lawyer noted that his petition had been listed 64 times, with Imam seeking adjournment on eight occasions. Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Imam, argued that the NIA Act mandates case resolution within three months.
Petition Pending Since April 2022
Justice Bela M. Trivedi stated that eight FIRs have been registered against Imam. Imam’s lawyer informed the court that the bail petition has been pending in the Delhi High Court since April 29, 2022. Imam approached the Supreme Court with two requests: to direct the Delhi High Court to expedite the pending hearing or to grant bail under Article 32. However, Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma declined to consider his Article 32 bail petition. Imam was initially arrested in January 2020 on charges of delivering inflammatory speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University during the anti-CAA protests.
High Volume of Documents and Witnesses Cited
Imam’s lawyer also pointed out to the High Court that the investigation is still underway, involving over one lakh pages of documents and more than a thousand witnesses. Umar Khalid and other activists, alongside Imam, were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Indian Penal Code for their alleged roles in the February 2020 riots, which led to 53 deaths and more than 700 injuries. The riots erupted amid protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Khalid, arrested in September 2020, had his bail plea rejected for the second time by a trial court on May 28.
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