look news india
New Delhi, May 29 (HS). Delhi High Court has granted statutory bail to Sharjeel Imam, accused in a case related to Delhi riots. The High Court has granted bail to Sharjeel Imam in the case of giving inflammatory speeches at Jamia University and Aligarh Muslim University. A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kait ordered to grant statutory bail to Sharjeel. However, despite this order of the High Court, he will not be able to come out of jail, because he is also in jail in the case of the big conspiracy of Delhi riots.
During the hearing, Delhi Police opposed the statutory bail plea of Sharjeel Imam, accused in the Delhi riots case, saying that violence was planned in the name of opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Delhi. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad on behalf of Delhi Police said that Sharjeel Imam's speech was to provoke people. Sharjeel had said in his speech that if you do not come out on the streets, they will finish you off. All the speeches of Sharjeel Imam were similar, in which there was a discussion of Chakka Jam, Babri, Triple Talaq and Article 370. He said that Sharjeel Imam had talked about cutting off the North-East from the rest of the country by blocking the Chicken Neck Corridor.
The High Court had issued a notice to the Delhi Police while hearing Sharjeel Imam's statutory bail plea on March 11. The lawyer appearing on behalf of Sharjeel Imam had said that Sharjeel has served half of the maximum sentence of 7 years. In such a situation, he should be released from jail immediately. The petition states that Sharjeel Imam has been in custody since January 28, 2020. Earlier, the Karkardooma Court had rejected Sharjeel Imam's statutory bail plea on February 17. In fact, on January 30, the High Court had directed the Karkardooma Court to complete the hearing on Sharjeel Imam's statutory bail plea by February 17. During the hearing in Karkardooma Court, Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, appearing on behalf of Delhi Police, had said that there is some confusion in the provisions. The question is whether an accused under UAPA is entitled to get bail under Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure after completing half the sentence.
Opposing Sharjeel's statutory bail plea, Delhi Police had said that the gravity of the crime cannot be ignored. Just because the accused has already served half of the maximum sentence in the cases registered against him, bail cannot be granted on this basis.
It is noteworthy that the Delhi Police has said in the charge sheet filed against Sharjeel Imam under UAPA that Sharjeel Imam was desperate to take the protest against CAA to an all-India level and was trying his best to do so. The Delhi Police had registered an FIR against Sharjeel Imam under sections 124A, 153A, 153B and 505(2) of the IPC.
