Sharjeel Imam Today (Mar 27) approached the Delhi High Court to quash charges framed against him in the 2019 Anti-CAA protest case. The court has issued notice and scheduled the next hearing for April 24.
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NEW DELHI: Sharjeel Imam, who is known for being a student leader and activist, today moved to the Delhi High Court to challenge the charges that were framed against him in a case linked to the 2019 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
This case is from the time when several protests took place across the country after the CAA was passed by the government.
Justice Sanjeev Narula agreed to look into Sharjeel Imam’s request and has issued a notice in this matter.
The Court sought response of the city police on a plea by activist Sharjeel Imam challenging a trial court’s order to frame charges against him in the 2019 Jamia violence case.
Justice Narula also refused to stay the trial court proceedings in the case at this stage.
The court issued notice to the police on the main petition as well as on the stay application and listed the matter for further hearing on April 24.
Imam is trying to get the charges against him cancelled or removed, saying that the charges framed are not correct or justified.
In this legal move, Imam is asking the High Court to examine whether the trial court was right in deciding to frame these charges against him. The charges are connected to his alleged speeches and involvement in protests during December 2019, when demonstrations against the CAA were happening in many parts of India.
According to the police and investigating agencies, Sharjeel Imam had allegedly made provocative speeches that, in their view, could have created tension or unrest. However, Sharjeel Imam and his lawyers argue that his speeches were not meant to cause any violence, and that he was only expressing his views in a peaceful way.
“Being Prosecuted Twice for the Same Speech”: Sharjeel Imam To Delhi HC
Sharjeel Imam appeared before the Delhi High Court on March 1st, arguing that two cases against him originated from a speech he gave at Jamia Millia Islamia University regarding the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Imam asserted:
“There is absolutely nothing in any chats showing that I incited violence of any kind.”
His advocate, Talib Mustafa, emphasized that Imam has been in judicial custody for over five years with no indication that the case will proceed soon.
The cases against Imam were filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), accusing him of making inflammatory speeches during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 2020.
Notably, two speeches delivered by Imam in December 2019 were included in the charge sheet, one in Delhi on December 13 and another in Aligarh on December 16. According to police reports, his remarks allegedly incited violence during protests on December 15, 2019, in Jamia Nagar, Delhi.
In September 2024, the Delhi High Court rejected Imam’s request for an early hearing of his pending bail petition, stating that it would be addressed on the already scheduled date.
Imam’s bail plea challenges an order from February 11, 2022, in which Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma court denied him relief, asserting that Imam’s speeches aimed to create “public disorder” and “incitement to violence,” and appeared to undermine India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Recently, the Supreme Court declined to entertain an Article 32 petition, noting that Imam could not approach the top court while his bail plea was still pending before the Delhi High Court.
Sharjeel Imam is an Indian activist and former research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) who gained national attention for his speeches during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in 2019–2020.
He studied computer engineering at IIT-Bombay before pursuing a master’s and MPhil in history at JNU. As an active participant in protests against the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC), he delivered a speech at Aligarh Muslim University in January 2020, where he allegedly called for blocking Assam from the rest of India, leading to sedition charges against him.
Arrested in January 2020, he was charged under sedition, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and incitement to violence, and has remained in legal custody since then, facing multiple cases across different states, including Delhi and Assam. His legal team has contested these charges, particularly after the Supreme Court put sedition laws on hold in 2022.
Case Title: Sharjeel Imam Vs State Govt
W.P.(Crl)-1715/2023
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