Co-accused granted bail, why not Sharjeel Imam: Delhi HC asks
text_fields
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court asked the Delhi Police to submit why Sharjeel Imam cannot be granted bail when his co-accused received the same in the Delhi Riots conspiracy case. The court directed the Police to file a chart to differentiate Imam’s role from that of co-accused who were granted bail, The Bar and Bench reported.
A Division Bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain were hearing Sharjeel Imam’s plea and ruled accordingly.
The High Court granted bail to Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal in June 2021.
However, the Supreme Court had stated that the Delhi HC’s order could not be treated as precedent, reasoning that the HC had dealt with the merits of the case.
The Bench said Imam’s counsel and Delhi Police should also file their written submissions in the matter.
The Bench ordered Imam’s counsel and Delhi Police to file written submissions on the matter and listed the case for further hearing on February 19.
Delhi Police, for whom Imam’s counsel and Delhi Police referred the Supreme Court order which dismissed Delhi Police’s appeal against bail to Tanha, Kalita and Narwal, saying that Imam should make his case on merits. It is not the prosecution who should show how Imam’s role is different from those received bail, Delhi Police said.
According to the Delhi Police’s case, Imam was one of the main conspirators of the 2020 Delhi riots, in which they incited the riots using protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NCR)