New Delhi: Activist Sharjeel Imam on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to grant him bail in a February 2020 Delhi riots case, saying he had neither participated nor had any role in the violence and was incarcerated for almost six years as an undertrial.
Sharjeel’s counsel told a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria that the only thing the prosecution has placed before the apex court against the activist is the alleged “inflammatory speeches” given by him.
Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, appearing for Sharjeel, said some of the words used in the speeches were “unpalatable”.
“Is a speech by itself conspiratorial in nature? Does it? And it is not a speech which is only one way. I have shown to your lordships, he gives a call for non-violence. He says you take the beating, don’t attack. That is what he is saying,” Dave told the bench.
Besides Dave, senior advocates Salman Khurshid, Sidharth Luthra and others also advanced their submissions on behalf of some other accused in the case.
During the arguments, Dave said Sharjeel was arrested on January 28, 2020 and the riots happened in Delhi on February 22-24, 2020.
“Today, he is standing before your lordships asking for bail. After almost six years in custody, your lordships may kindly consider that he be released on bail particularly when he is not physically present and not an accused in any of those cases of where the actual riots took place,” he argued.
Dave said conspiracy involves meeting of minds and Imam was already in custody almost a month before the riots took place.
He contended that around 750 FIRs were lodged in connection with the riots and Imam was not named in them.
Dave referred to parity and said those who allegedly participated in the riots and were physically present there have been granted bail.
“As a citizen of this country, I have hope and I make a prayer to your lordships that it is almost six years of incarceration. It is a long period for somebody to be as an undertrial,” he said.
The arguments in the matter would continue on Wednesday.
Strongly opposing the bail pleas of activist Umar Khalid, Sharjeel and others, the Delhi Police had said the February 2020 riots were not something spontaneous, but an “orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed” attack on India’s sovereignty.
Umar, Sharjeel and other accused were booked under the UAPA, the stringent anti-terror law, and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The violence erupted during widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The accused have moved the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court’s September 2 order denying them bail in the “larger conspiracy” case of February 2020 riots.
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