On Friday, Delhi High Court sent notice to the Delhi Police in response to student activist Sharjeel Imam’s bail plea in the bigger conspiracy case behind riots in Delhi in February, 2020.
A division bench presided over by Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan had asked the police for its reply and scheduled the case for hearing on August 27.
The trial court dismissed Sharjeel Imam’s fresh bail application, with which he argued against on July 4, along with an interlocutory application of his co-accused Umar Khalid. The trial court has observed that there had been no change of facts and the Supreme Court has dismissed their bail applications earlier and could not hear the ones today.
Refraining from reconsidering the issue in the present context was also appropriate as conflicting opinions given by the Supreme Court regarding the question of prolonged sentences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were already pending before the larger benches, the trial court added.
At the High Court, the Imam’s lawyer challenged the negligence of the trial court which had not even initiated charges after years of a person being incarcerated. They argued that a bail application should be reconsidered because of the length of time they had been held without the commencement of to the trial.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who appeared for the Delhi Police, contended that the question of delay has been considered by the Supreme Court and the arguments were advanced and spent substantial time on framing of charges.
In January 2020, Sharjeel Imam was arrested for allegedly conspiring in the violent incidents which claimed the lives of 53 persons during the Delhi riots, under UAPA.