Delhi riots: Sharjeel Imam denies links with ‘co-conspirators’
Student activist Sharjeel Imam told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that he had no connection with any of the alleged co-conspirators of the February 2020 communal riots in the Capital.
Arguing for bail, Imam’s counsel said t his public speeches consistently called for non-violence and that he had already spent over four years in custody.
A bench led by Justice Navin Chawla, along with Justice Shalinder Kaur, was hearing Imam’s plea in the larger conspiracy case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The activist, along with Umar Khalid and others, had been accused of orchestrating the riots, which erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The violence left 53 persons dead and over 700 injured.
“There are absolutely no chats between me and any of the co-conspirators. No chats, no calls with any of the co-conspirators in the case. Yet they rely on my chats to implicate me,” Imam’s counsel argued. “There is nothing in my chats to remotely suggest that I intended to incite any violence.”
His counsel submitted that Imam’s speeches contained repeated calls for non-violence and that the Shaheen Bagh protest site, raised by Imam, remained peaceful throughout. Imam, fearing violence, had distanced himself from the site in January 2020, the counsel said.
The counsel further contended that the activist was in custody in connection with another FIR from January 28, 2020, weeks before the alleged conspiracy meeting of the co-accused in February. He claimed Imam’s arrest in the riots conspiracy case on August 25, 2020, was based solely on belated witness statements.
The bench questioned Imam’s counsel about his alleged reference to “Ghazwa-e-Hind”, as mentioned in a witness statement. “The statement was made six months later just to implicate me. What I said is in the open,” the counsel argued.
Imam’s counsel noted that other co-accused, such as Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, were already out on bail. He argued that a meeting Imam attended with Umar Khalid in December 2019 involved absolutely nothing on violence, but focused on solidarity against the citizenship law.
“There is a rich history of chakka jam being used as an effective method of protest in the country pre-and post-Independence. There was no reference to any violence,” the counsel submitted.
The court will now hear the matter on December 20.
