Delhi High court grants bail to Sharjeel Imam after over four years in jail

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (May 29) granted bail to Sharjeel Imam, a student activist jailed in connection with a 2020 communal riots case that involved allegations of sedition and unlawful activities.

"Appeal is allowed," said a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain after hearing the counselsfor Imam and the Delhi Police.

This high court order comes after a trial court order refused to grant him bail, even after he has served more than half of the maximum sentence that he could be sentenced to in case of a conviction.

Charges against Sharjeel Imam

The prosecution has accused Imam of making provocative speeches at Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019. In these speeches, he allegedly threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the North East from India.

He was booked in the case registered by the Delhi Police's Special Branch on the offence of sedition. As per PTI, at a later date, Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) was invoked against him.

Imam has been in custody for over 1580 days, since January 28, 2020.

Trial court order

Previously, on February 17, a trial court had refused to grant Imam respite. The student activist claimed in front of the trial court that he could be released after over four years in custody.

He claimed that the maximum sentence for the offence under section 13 (punishment for unlawful activities) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is 7 years, if convicted, was 7 years.

Under Section 436-A of the CrPC, a person can be released from custody after serving half of the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence.

However, while refusing his appeal, the trial court ruled that the accused's (Sharjeel Imam's) custody could be extended for a further period in "exceptional circumstances".

(With inputs from agencies)