India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4—A Delhi court Thursday sent Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) research scholar Sharjeel Imam to judicial custody for 30 days while denying bail to Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) student Asif Iqbal Tanha. Both Imam and Tanha were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the Northeast Delhi riots. Additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat sent Imam to judicial custody after he was produced before the court at the end of his three-day custodial interrogation and dismissed Tanha’s bail application.
Imam, 31, a PhD student at the JNU’s Centre for Historical Studies, was arrested under the anti-terror law for allegedly being part of a “premeditated conspiracy” that led to the riots in Northeast Delhi in February during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). He was earlier arrested in Bihar’s Jahanabad by the Delhi Police on January 28. He was charged under IPC sections 124 A (sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, etc) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) over a speech he delivered at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), where he allegedly threatened to “cut off” Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India. Besides Delhi, police in UP, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have booked him on charges of sedition. Tanha, 24, a third-year student of BA in Persian language, was arrested on May 19 and has been in judicial custody since May 27.
“Considering the nature of the investigation as also the case record, application is allowed, Accordingly, Sharjeel Imam is remanded to judicial custody till October 1,” the court said.
Rawat said the statements of the protected witnesses in the riots case reflected the role of many accused persons, including accused Tanha, in the protests and how they were planned. “The statements clearly point out the role of the accused Asif lqbal Tanha as also other co-accused persons…. He was part of a conspiracy for doing chakka-jam leading to the riots,” the court said. In its order passed on September 2, the court said Tanha’s name comes out in the statements of the witnesses as one of the main coordinators in the entire conspiracy. The order further said the details of the statements of these witnesses are not spelt out as the case was at the stage of investigation. “Their merits or credibility can’t be gone into at the present stage. Considering the statement of such witnesses regarding the role of the accused Asif Iqbal Tanha and other accused persons whose conduct is also highlighted by various statements, I have no hesitation to hold that there are reasonable ground for believing that accusation against accused are prima facie true…,” the judge said in his order.
Imam was brought to Delhi from a jail in Assam on a production warrant on August 24. Earlier, on July 26, the police had filed a chargesheet, charging him with sedition over a speech he had allegedly given at AMU in January this year. On August 25, after he was brought back to Delhi, Imam was arrested in connection the northeast Delhi riots and charged under UAPA and the Indian Penal Code for sedition, promoting enmity, hatred between different communities, assertions prejudicial to national integration and spreading rumours. The police had also accused Imam of exhorting people of a particular community “to block highways leading to the major cities and resort to “chakka jam (traffic blockade)”, during the protests against the CAA. The court had earlier sent him to police custody for three days. Imam was also arrested on January 28 in the case related to violent protests against the CAA near the Jamia Millia Islamia University in December last year. In the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police in April, Imam was charged with sedition before a court in Delhi for allegedly inciting people to indulge in “activities detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of the country”. The chargesheet had alleged that Imam openly defied the Constitution and called it a “fascist” document. He tested Covid-19 positive on July 21.
During the hearing, advocate Siddharth Aggarwal and Sowjhanya Shankaran, who appeared for Tanha, said he has been falsely implicated in the case. Umar Khalid has been mentioned in the case but he has not been arrested yet, Aggarwal said. He further argued that the invocation of UAPA against Tanha was bad in law as there was no unlawful association or terrorist organization with which he was associated. Tanha was not a member of Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) WhatsApp group till February 24, and therefore, the messages on February 23 regarding the alleged planning of riots were not relevant to him, Aggarwal claimed. There has been no recovery of money trail and no payment has been ascribed to him from any objectionable source, the lawyer said. He further claimed that Tanha had no connection with the Bhim Army and his premises were not searched and there was no evidence collected against him.
No incriminating material or arms or ammunition was recovered from him, Aggarwal claimed. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, appearing for the state, opposed the bail plea, saying Tanha was one of the conspirators and involved with other accused persons in the conspiracy and there was sufficient material for establishing a prima facie case against him.
