Delhi Riots: UAPA Accused Sharjeel Imam Seeks Bail, Says Prosecution Has No Evidence

JNU student Sharjeel Imam, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, has filed a bail plea before a court here in the northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case, stating that there is no evidence against him and the allegations are purely based on conjectures. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat sought a reply from the prosecution on Imam's bail plea and posted the matter to August 6 for hearing. Imam along with several others has been booked under the anti-terror law in the case. They are accused of being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

In a bail plea, filed through advocate Ahmad Ibrahim, Imam stated that the allegations against him do not disclose the commission of a 'terrorist act' and no offence is made out under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Prosecution has no evidence whatsoever and merely relies on few bits here and there and the whole conspiracy case as far as it relates to the applicant is nothing but purely based on conjectures, surmises, and suspicions, the plea stated. Imam said that he was lodged in judicial custody in another case when the riots took place and never participated in, or encouraged any violence. The plea said, no evidence points to the applicant even remotely being involved with any other protest in any part of Delhi including protest sites in the parts of Delhi that were affected by the violence.

Furthermore, the accused claimed that he had no direct communication with any other co-accused and did not meet them. Imam has also moved a bail application in a case related to making alleged inflammatory speeches during the protests against CAA and NRC at two universities. It will come up for hearing on August 2. Besides him, former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.

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