Sharjeel Imam Gets Bail in Sedition Case Over Speech at AMU, To Remain in Jail

However, Imam will remain in jail, as he was also charged under sections of the UAPA, in a case of the Delhi riots.

File photo of Sharjeel Imam.

(Photo courtesy: Wasif Hasnain)

The Allahabad High Court on Saturday, 27 November, granted bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam in a sedition case registered against him for a speech he made at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) held in the campus on 16 January 2020.

The bail was granted by Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh of the Allahabad High Court, Bar and Bench reported.

However, Imam will remain in jail, as he has also been charged under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in a case of the Northeast Delhi riots.

On 22 October, a Saket court had denied bail to Imam in a case relating to violence during anti-CAA protests near Jamia in Delhi, despite finding that the evidence presented to claim that he incited the violence was "scanty and sketchy".

Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agarwal had held that while there were "gaping holes" in the case of the Delhi Police, a speech given by Imam on 13 December 2019 at Jamia would still "tend to have a debilitating effect on the communal peace and harmony".