Sharjeel Imam, a student at Jawaharlal Lal University (JNU), was denied bail by a Delhi court on Friday in connection with allegedly making an inflammatory statement that incited violence in 2019. The speech was on community lines, and the content of the speech tended to ‘have a detrimental impact on the peace and harmony,’ according to the court.
According to Delhi Police, Iman allegedly gave a provocative speech during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on December 13, 2019, which sparked riots two days later in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar when a mob of over 3,000 people attacked cops and set fire to vehicles.
The additional sessions judge Anuj Agarwal while denying Imam the bail said that the cursory and plain reading of the speech displays that it was on communal lines. “The tone and tenor of the incendiary speech tend to have a debilitating effect upon public tranquility, peace, and harmony of the society,” he said.
The judge also quoted Swami Vivekananda while delivering the verdict. “We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think; Words are secondary; Thoughts live; they travel far,” he said.
The judge also did note that the evidence in support of the allegations that the rioters got instigated by Imam’s speech and following which they indulged in the acts of rioting, mischief, and attacking the cops was sketchy. It said that whether the speech would fall in the ambit of section 124A (Sedition) Indian Penal Code or not still requires deeper analysis at an appropriate stage.
Alongside this case, Imam is accused of being the “mastermind” of the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which led to deaths of 53 people and injured over 700.
