By India News
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court on Monday told Sharjeel Imam — an accused in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots case — that it has not stayed the trial proceedings in the sedition case linked to his alleged inflammatory speeches at Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia area against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
“There is no stay, the trial would obviously proceed. If the trial court comes to a conclusion that enough material exists, it will proceed to frame charges,” clarified the Bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri when Imam’s counsel pointed out that the trial court had proceeded to frame charges against his client.
The Delhi High Court was hearing Imam’s plea seeking quashing of sedition and hate speech charges against him under Sections 124A and 153A of the now-repealed Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The matter was deferred after an adjournment was sought on behalf of Delhi Police.
Last week, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea filed by Sharjeel Imam seeking bail in an alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
It said that Imam, accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), should not have moved a writ petition directly before the apex court when his bail plea is pending adjudication before the Delhi High Court. However, the top court asked the Delhi High Court to hear Imam’s bail plea on the date fixed and decide it expeditiously.
In his appeal filed before the Delhi HC, the former Jawaharlal Nehru University student and activist has challenged the trial court order, which had previously denied him bail, following his arrest in August 2020 in connection with the case. He has been in custody since January 2020, facing multiple FIRs related to the violence.
This story was originally published in ndtv.com. Read the full story here.
