Sharjeel Imam moves Supreme Court against Delhi HC order denying him bail in Delhi riots case

Activist Sharjeel Imam, on Saturday, moved the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court order which denied him bail in an anti-terror law case linked to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in New Delhi.

 

Imam, who was arrested on January 28, 2020, has already spent over five years in pre-trial detention. The SC is yet to list the case for hearing.

 

The Delhi High Court had ruled that "conspiratorial" violence under the garb of demonstrations or protests by citizens cannot be allowed, while denying bail to nine people, including Imam, in the conspiracy case of the riots.

 

Holding that the Constitution affords citizens the right to protest and carry out demonstrations or agitations, provided they are orderly, peaceful and without arms and such actions must be within the bounds of law, the bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur dismissed the bail pleas of Imam, Umar Khalid, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima.

 

The order said the right to participate in peaceful protests and to make speeches in public meetings was protected under Article 19(1)(a), and couldn't be blatantly curtailed. However, the right was stated to be "not absolute" and "subject to reasonable restrictions". "If the exercise of an unfettered right to protest were permitted, it would damage the constitutional framework and impinge upon the law-and-order situation in the country," the order had said.

 

The bench went on to say that any conspiratorial violence under the garb of protests or demonstrations by the citizens cannot be permitted. "Such actions must be regulated and checked by the state machinery, as they do not fall within the ambit of freedom of speech, expression and association," it said.

 

Khalid, Imam and the rest of the accused persons were booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

 

The violence erupted during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.

India