Police opposes in HC Sharjeel Imams bail plea in sedition case
New Delhi Mar 24 PTI Delhi Police Thursday opposed in the Delhi High Court the bail plea of JNU Student Sharjeel Imam arrested in a case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made by him during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act CAA and National Register of Citizens NRC in 2019The police said the trial courts January 24 bail order which has been challenged by Imam is explicitly clear legally tenable and does not merit any intervention by the high courtA bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar listed the matter for further hearing on April 29When the counsel for Imam urged the court to give an early date of hearing the bench said dont heckle the court and dont try to intimidate the courtThe police in its status report filed in response to Imams bail plea said the accused has wrongly mentioned that there are more than 170 witnesses to be examined whereas factually there are only 43 witnesses in the case most of whom are formal in natureThe trial court has been pleased to frame charges on March 15 2022 proposing day-to-day trial in the matter and vide order dated March 15 2022 posted the matter for admission denial on March 26 2022 and for prosecution evidence on March 28-29 2022 Thus there is no delay in trial which in any case was already expedited by the trial court in the impugned order itself the report filed through special public prosecutor Amit Prasad saidIt said there were no good grounds to entertain the present appeal challenging the trial courts order denying him bail and the same be dismissedThe court said it was a settled law that once charges are framed it would be safe to assume that a very strong suspicion was founded upon the materials before the court which prompted it to form a presumptive opinion as to the existence of the factual ingredients constituting the offence alleged against the accused to justify the framing of chargeIn the order on charge the trial court has discussed in details the manner in which each ingredients to constitute offences are made out and has come to conclusion that the offences involved in the present case merit imprisonment for life Thus once the trial court has come to this conclusion the statutory bar comes in play restricting jurisdiction of the trial court to grant bail it saidThe police said the facts of the case on which the charges are framed against the accused indeed suggest that the offence is grave in nature and there is no frivolity in the case of the prosecution and that the offence prima facie made out against the accused is punishable with imprisonment for lifeThe status report was filed by the police in pursuance to the high courts notice earlier issued in the caseAs per the prosecution Imam had allegedly made speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13 2019 and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16 2019 where he threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the Northeast from IndiaImam who has been charged with section 124A punishment for Sedition of the IPC which entails for life imprisonment has approached the high court challenging a trial courts January 24 order denying him bail in the caseImams counsel has said he has been in custody for last 25 months and there was no likelihood of trial getting over in the near future as there were more than 170 witnesses to be examined and the trial has not even started yetThe bail plea said that the instant FIR was registered against Imam on January 25 2020 simultaneously with four other FIRs across multiple states for the same speeches attributed to himThe FIR was originally registered for the offences punishable under sections 124A punishment for sedition 153A Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion race place of birth residence 153B Imputations assertions prejudicial to national-integration and 5052 Statements creating or promoting enmity hatred or ill-will between classes of the IPC and later section 13 punishment for unlawful activities of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA was addedSubsequently Imam was arrested in this case from Bihar on January 28 2020 and was remanded to police custody for 8 days and has been in continuous judicial custody since thenHe is also one of the accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy caseThe prosecution has claimed that his speeches incited hatred contempt and disaffection towards the central government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019In the garb of CAA he Imam exhorted people of a particular community to block highways leading to major cities and resort to chakka jaam Also in the name of opposing CAA he openly threatened to cut off Assam and other Northeastern states from the rest of the country the Delhi Polices charge sheet has statedIn his defence Imam had earlier told the court that he is not a terrorist and his prosecution is a whip of a monarch rather than a government established by law Whereas the prosecution claimed that violent riots took place pursuant to Imams speechDelhi Police had filed a charge sheet before the trial court against Imam in the case in which it alleged that he allegedly gave speeches inciting hatred contempt and disaffection towards the Central Government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019 PTI SKV SA
New Delhi Mar 24 PTI Delhi Police Thursday opposed in the Delhi High Court the bail plea of JNU Student Sharjeel Imam arrested in a case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made by him during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act CAA and National Register of Citizens NRC in 2019The police said the trial courts January 24 bail order which has been challenged by Imam is explicitly clear legally tenable and does not merit any intervention by the high courtA bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar listed the matter for further hearing on April 29When the counsel for Imam urged the court to give an early date of hearing the bench said dont heckle the court and dont try to intimidate the courtThe police in its status report filed in response to Imams bail plea said the accused has wrongly mentioned that there are more than 170 witnesses to be examined whereas factually there are only 43 witnesses in the case most of whom are formal in natureThe trial court has been pleased to frame charges on March 15 2022 proposing day-to-day trial in the matter and vide order dated March 15 2022 posted the matter for admission denial on March 26 2022 and for prosecution evidence on March 28-29 2022 Thus there is no delay in trial which in any case was already expedited by the trial court in the impugned order itself the report filed through special public prosecutor Amit Prasad saidIt said there were no good grounds to entertain the present appeal challenging the trial courts order denying him bail and the same be dismissedThe court said it was a settled law that once charges are framed it would be safe to assume that a very strong suspicion was founded upon the materials before the court which prompted it to form a presumptive opinion as to the existence of the factual ingredients constituting the offence alleged against the accused to justify the framing of chargeIn the order on charge the trial court has discussed in details the manner in which each ingredients to constitute offences are made out and has come to conclusion that the offences involved in the present case merit imprisonment for life Thus once the trial court has come to this conclusion the statutory bar comes in play restricting jurisdiction of the trial court to grant bail it saidThe police said the facts of the case on which the charges are framed against the accused indeed suggest that the offence is grave in nature and there is no frivolity in the case of the prosecution and that the offence prima facie made out against the accused is punishable with imprisonment for lifeThe status report was filed by the police in pursuance to the high courts notice earlier issued in the caseAs per the prosecution Imam had allegedly made speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13 2019 and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16 2019 where he threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the Northeast from IndiaImam who has been charged with section 124A punishment for Sedition of the IPC which entails for life imprisonment has approached the high court challenging a trial courts January 24 order denying him bail in the caseImams counsel has said he has been in custody for last 25 months and there was no likelihood of trial getting over in the near future as there were more than 170 witnesses to be examined and the trial has not even started yetThe bail plea said that the instant FIR was registered against Imam on January 25 2020 simultaneously with four other FIRs across multiple states for the same speeches attributed to himThe FIR was originally registered for the offences punishable under sections 124A punishment for sedition 153A Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion race place of birth residence 153B Imputations assertions prejudicial to national-integration and 5052 Statements creating or promoting enmity hatred or ill-will between classes of the IPC and later section 13 punishment for unlawful activities of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA was addedSubsequently Imam was arrested in this case from Bihar on January 28 2020 and was remanded to police custody for 8 days and has been in continuous judicial custody since thenHe is also one of the accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy caseThe prosecution has claimed that his speeches incited hatred contempt and disaffection towards the central government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019In the garb of CAA he Imam exhorted people of a particular community to block highways leading to major cities and resort to chakka jaam Also in the name of opposing CAA he openly threatened to cut off Assam and other Northeastern states from the rest of the country the Delhi Polices charge sheet has statedIn his defence Imam had earlier told the court that he is not a terrorist and his prosecution is a whip of a monarch rather than a government established by law Whereas the prosecution claimed that violent riots took place pursuant to Imams speechDelhi Police had filed a charge sheet before the trial court against Imam in the case in which it alleged that he allegedly gave speeches inciting hatred contempt and disaffection towards the Central Government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019 PTI SKV SA
