A Delhi court on Monday rejected the bail plea of former JNU student Sharjeel Imam in a case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made by him at Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia area during the anti-CAA agitations in 2019 and 2020.
The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat on a petition filed by Imam through advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir.
ASJ Rawat has framed charges against Imam under IPC sections of sedition, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, charges prejudicial to national unity, rhetoric, statement to public mischief, apart from section 13 of unlawful . Activity (Prevention) Act.
The FIR in the case was registered in 2020 while the section under UAPA was added later.
During the hearing, Imam’s lawyer had argued that merely criticizing the government in power could not amount to treason and that the submissions made by the prosecution were “rhetorical”. The lawyer said that there was no call for violence made by the Imam.
The prosecution, however, submitted that the Imam made “seditious speeches”, through which he challenged the sovereignty of India and tried to imbibe a sense of despair and insecurity among Muslims. Imam is also accused of being part of a larger conspiracy behind the North-East Delhi riots.
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