Sharjeel Imam withdraws interim bail petition

Jawaharlal Nehru University student activist Sharjeel Imam on Tuesday withdrew his plea before a Delhi court seeking interim bail to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

Advocate Ahmad Ibrahim, appearing for Imam, informed the Karkardooma court that his client’s regular bail plea was already pending before the Supreme Court and the proper forum for seeking interim bail would, therefore, be the apex court.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai asked counsel to file an application stating the same and said the request would be allowed.

Imam had sought interim bail from October 15 to October 29 to contest the elections from the Bahadurganj constituency as an Independent candidate. In his plea, he described himself as “a political prisoner and student activist”.

“He (Imam) is willing to contest the elections from his home state Bihar, which is scheduled to take place in 2 phases,” the plea stated.

Imam has been in custody since January 2020 after being booked in several cases linked to the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). While he has secured bail in some of these matters, he continues to remain in judicial custody in connection with the Delhi riots conspiracy case in which the Delhi Police have invoked provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

On September 2, the Delhi High Court denied him regular bail in the case. His appeal against that order is pending before the Supreme Court.