Supreme Court refuses to entertain Article 32 bail plea by Sharjeel Imam but asks Delhi High Court to expedite hearing

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Sharjeel Imam seeking bail in connection with the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case..A Bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma said that it is not inclined to entertain the petition since it has been filed directly before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking bail."We are not inclined to entertain the Article 32 plea. The same is dismissed," the Court remarked.However, it asked the Delhi High Court to consider Imam's request to expeditiously decide his bail plea pending before the High Court.Initially, the Court had proceeded to reject the plea outright. However, Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave, appearing for Imam, said that they are not pressing for bail but highlighted the delay by the Delhi High Court in hearing the case."Please note that we are not pressing bail," Dave said.Justice Trivedi then asked why Imam approached the Supreme Court under Article 32.She eventually refused to entertain the petition while also recording that Imam has not pressed for bail before the top court."This being the writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, we are not inclined to entertain the same. However, the petitioner shall be at liberty to request the High Court to hear the said appeal as expeditiously as possible and preferably on the next date fixed, i.e., 25.11.2024 and it is expected that the High Court shall consider the said request. The Writ Petition is dismissed," the Supreme Court said in its order..Imam moved the Supreme Court by way of a writ petition after the Delhi High Court on September 4 rejected his plea seeking early hearing of his bail application.Sharjeel Imam was arrested by the Delhi Police in the year 2020 under the stringent provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).The prosecution has named him as the main conspirator behind the North-east Delhi riots of February 2020.Imam moved the High Court for early hearing of his bail plea stating that it has been pending since April 2022.The petition was listed for hearing more than 60 times before seven different benches, he said.He added that there is no likelihood of the trial concluding anytime soon since the police is yet to conclude its probe and more than 1,000 witnesses along with lakh of pages of documents are to be examined by the Court.However, the High Court rejected his plea..He then approached the Supreme Court seeking bail. In the alternative, he sought directions to the High Court to expedite his bail hearing. .[Read Order]