Debilitating effect on harmony in society: Sharjeel Imam's bail plea rejected by Saket Court in sedition case

The court however took a harsh view of the case registered by the Delhi Police, stating that the evidence provided is 'scant and sketchy'

Student activist Sharjeel Imam's bail plea has been rejected by a Saket Court in the sedition case that was slapped on him in July last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Imam was arrested in August 2020 under the charges, but he had already surrendered to the Delhi Police in January that year, who had held his speeches during the anti- Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest responsible for the riots in Jamia Nagar in Delhi. 

The court while passing the order on October 22, observed, "A cursory and plain reading of the speech dated December 13, 2019, revealed that same is clearly on communal/divisive lines. In my view, the tone and tenor of the incendiary speech tend to have a debilitating effect upon public tranquility, peace and harmony of the society."

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The court however said that the evidence, prima facie, cited by the Delhi police is 'scant and sketchy'. "It is not legally permissible to build the edifice of the prosecution version upon the foundation of imagination or upon inadmissible confession before a police officer. Once the legally impermissible foundation of imaginative thinking and disclosure statement of accused/co-accused is removed, the prosecution version on this count appears to be crumbling like a house of cards,” the court said

In the time that Imam has spent incarcerated, there have been protests against his arrest which have led to other students being charged with sedition as well. 

Edited by Juveria Tabassum