[Anti-CAA speech] Delhi High Court issues notice in bail application filed by Sharjeel Imam

The Delhi High Court today issued notice in the bail application filed by Sharjeel Imam in the sedition case registered against him in connection with his December 2019 speech made during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). .Notice was issued by Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar, who listed the matter for hearing on February 11, 2021. .Imam claimed in the plea that he was not one of the accused initially named in the FIR. However, he was made a party in the present case on the basis of a statement given by a co-accused named Md. Furkan, who was allegedly instigated by his speeches..As per the chargesheet filed against him on February 12, 2020, he was booked for charges of Sedition, Unlawful Assembly and Rioting under the Indian Penal Code and for offences under Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, among others. .21 days after the alleged disclosure of the co-accused, the investigating agency moved to request Imam's production in the present case before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, South East, Saket District Court, which was allowed. He was then arrested on February 17, 2021.In the supplementary chargesheet submitted by the investigating agency, it was alleged that pursuant to Imam's speeches on December 13, 2019 and December 15, 2019, co-accused Mohd. Furkan was instigated to commit the acts mentioned in the present FIR, and charges of sedition and communal instigation were added to the case. Subsequently, he was arrested in another case for the same two speeches he delivered in December 2019..The bail plea stated that the persons named in the present FIR for allegedly instigating people during a protest march from Jamia Milia Islamia to Sansad Bhavan have not even been arrested. Further, all the co-accused persons who had been arrested have been granted bail in the present matter.Imam has alleged that he has been falsely implicated in the present FIR following a pattern of victimization and targeted persecution."The Applicant is innocent and is being made a scapegoat by the police personnel even when there is no evidence on record to show that he was present on the date and time of occurrence of offence at the site of the incident that is subject matter of the present FIR," plea stated..On these points, and on the ground that he has been in custody for 21 months, Imam moved the High Court for bail..Last month, a Delhi court had denied bail to Imam while noting that the speech delivered by him at Jamia Milia University on December 13, 2019 was clearly on communal/divisive lines and could affect peace and harmony in the society."A cursory and plain reading of the speech dated 13.12.2019 reveals that same is clearly on communal/divisive lines. In my view, the tone and tenor of the incendiary speech tend to have a debilitating effect upon public tranquility, peace and harmony of the society," the Court said.The fundamental right of free speech and expression is placed at a high pedestal by our Constitution, but it cannot be cannot be exercised at the cost of communal peace and harmony of the society, the Court underscored while denying him bail..Last week, the Allahabad High Court granted Imam bail in a sedition case registered against him for a speech he made at Aligarh Muslim University, during an anti-CAA protest held in the campus on January 16, 2020.Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh noted that Imam has remained confined for more than one year and two months for an offence that carries a maximum punishment of three years."...it may be noted that on an undisputed basis neither the applicant called any one to bear arms nor any violence was incited as a result of the speech delivered by the applicant. The exact imputations made and the effect prompted by the applicant by words uttered or gestures made etc. may remain to be examined at the trial which is yet to commence," the Court had held..Sharjeel Imam did not call anyone to bear arms, no violence incited: Allahabad High Court [Read bail order]