Delhi riots case: High Court seeks police response on Sharjeel Imam's bail plea

Court sought police's response to Sharjeel Imam's bail appeal after he argued that the trial court wrongly refused to examine his plea on merits despite the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case remaining stuck at the stage of arguments on charge nearly six years after his arrest.

In Short

• Imam's second regular bail plea was rejected by the trial court
• The lower court said Supreme Court's January order barred fresh relief
• Imam argues judges should have independently examined his bail request

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the Delhi Police on student activist Sharjeel Imam's appeal challenging the rejection of his bail plea in the larger conspiracy case linked to the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

A division bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan issued notice to the Delhi Police on Imam's appeal against a July 4 trial court order dismissing his second regular bail application.

The bench granted the police two weeks to file its response and listed the matter for hearing on August 27.

Imam was arrested on August 25, 2020, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly being one of the "masterminds" behind the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi.

The violence, which erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), claimed 53 lives and left over 700 people injured.

Rejecting Imam's bail plea earlier this month, the trial court had said it had "no option but to follow" the Supreme Court's January 5 order and, therefore, could neither entertain the application nor grant the relief sought. It held that the bail plea was not maintainable before it.

In his appeal before the high court, Imam contended that the trial court had failed to independently assess his plea for regular bail. He argued that despite nearly six years since his arrest, the proceedings in the case had not progressed beyond the stage of arguments on charge.

On January 5, the Supreme Court refused bail to Imam and co-accused Umar Khalid in the larger conspiracy case while granting bail to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria had held that a prima facie case existed against Imam and Khalid under the UAPA and observed that all accused could not be treated alike given the "hierarchy of participation" in the alleged conspiracy.

The high court will now examine Imam's challenge to the trial court's refusal to consider his bail plea on merits after receiving the Delhi Police's response.

- Ends