New Delhi: On Friday, the Delhi High Court issued notice to the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi in response to a new appeal filed by Sharjeel Imam challenging a trial court ruling denying him bail in a bigger conspiracy case including the North East Delhi rioting.
The Delhi High Court further stated that the appeal filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid in the same case will be heard alongside Sharjeel Imam on May 6, as they are both charged in the same chargesheet.
In his appeal, Sharjeel Imam claims that the Special Trial Court failed to recognise that the entire investigation was flawed, and that the charge sheet attributes events to the appellant’s speeches to incidents of violence that are not connected to the appellant in any direct or indirect way, even according to the material relied upon in the charge sheet.
It is also stated that at the time when the violence in Northeast Delhi erupted, the appellant was already in custody in two other FIRs registered at the Crime Branch and New Friends Colony, and that no overt or covert act can be attributed to the appellant in the manner sought to be attributed to him.If this speech was even shared on various WhatsApp groups that are said to be active, it would have galvanised the troop notion. However, the lawyer maintained that it had not been completed.
Umar Khalid’s appeal against the trial court’s refusal to grant him bail was recently dismissed by the Delhi Police in a reply copy filed in the High Court. According to the response, the trial court correctly dismissed the Appellant’s (Umar Khalid) bail application with a well-reasoned order that addressed each and every speculative issue offered by the Appellant.
The appeal presents no good grounds for consideration by this court, according to the reply copy, and should thus be rejected in the interests of justice.
In a wider conspiracy case including northeast Delhi violence, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are implicated. On September 13, 2020, he was detained for violating numerous provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
This case is linked to the violence that erupted in Northeast Delhi in February 2020. Hundreds of people were hurt and 53 people died as a result of the violence. Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, and others were detained in connection with a broader rioting plot.
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