Delhi Riots 2020: Delhi High Court adjourns bail plea of Sharjeel Imam to December 16

The Delhi High Court on Friday adjourned the bail petition of activist Sharjeel Imam to December 16, after his lawyers told the Court that they wished to seek further legal advice and explore the possibility of legal remedy before this hearing. 

The Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar stated that on the specific request of the Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant, the hearing on bail application of the accused was adjourned, to be listed after six weeks on December 16.

Delhi Police had booked Imam, Khalid and others under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, for their alleged role in the larger conspiracy leading to riots in the Northeast area of the national capital in February, 2020.

Appearing for Imam, Advocates Talib Mustafa and Ahmad Ibrahim contended that the Bench has made ‘certain’ observations regarding Imam in the order denying bail to co-accused Umar Khalid, without even hearing the bail plea of Sharjeel. 

The Bench said that it did not have any difficulty in adjourning the matter, since the application was premised on an assertion. This cannot be placed on record, it further said, adding that seeking legal advice in another matter could not be a ground for adjournment. 

The High Court told the Counsels that if they asked for an adjournment, it could be considered, but making legal arguments first and then asking for adjournment was something, which should not be done.

On October 18, the same Bench had denied bail to co-accused Umar Khalid in the case.

 
The High Court had then observed that Imam’s name has been mentioned 17 times by the court while discussing the charge sheet of Delhi Police, adding that Imam, arguably, was at the ‘head of the conspiracy,’ because terms such as ‘main conspirator’ have been used for him.

The Bench further observed that it found it a ‘little difficult’ to accept the contention there was no ideological meeting of minds between Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, as a string of commonality existed among all the accused.