Delhi riots: Sanctions to prosecute Sharjeel Imam for sedition awaited, police tells court

The Delhi police Wednesday told a court here that the requisite sanctions to prosecute ex-JNU student Sharjeel Imam for sedition and other offences are awaited.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted time till September 1 to procure the sanctions from the authorities concerned in the case related to anti-CAA riots earlier this year.

The court also took congnisance of the offence of unlawful activities punishable under section 13 of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The judge also directed Tihar jail authorities to produce Imam on next date of hearing.

The agency filed the charge sheet on July 25 under various sections including 124-A (Sedition), 153(A) (Promoting enmity), 153-A (promoting enmity, Hatred between different communities), 153-B (Assertion prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (spreading rumors) of India Penal Code and under the section 13 of UAPA.

In its submission, the Delhi police Wednesday told the court that the sanction for prosecution for the offence punishable under section UAPA was procured.

“However, with respect to the requisite sanction under section 196 CrPC (to prosecute for sedition and other offences punishable under Indian Penal Code) it is informed that a request in this regard has already been made before the competent authority and this sanction is still awaited,” the judge noted.

The judge further said, “In view of the same, I take cognizance for commission of the offence under section 13 of UAPA in the present matter.”

“However, the issue of taking cognizance for the commission of offence u/s 124-A, 153-A, 153-B and 505 of IPC is deferred for the time being for want of requisite sanction,” the judge said.

In its charge sheet, the police had accused Imam of “delivering seditious speeches and inciting a particular section of community to indulge in unlawful activities, detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of the nation.”

“In the grab of protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, he exhorted people of a particular community to block the highways leading to the major cities and resort to 'Chakka Jam', thereby disrupting normal life,” the charge sheet said.

It further alleged that he also openly defied the Constitution and called it a “fascist” document.

“In the name of opposing 'CAA' he also openly propagated blocking the 'chicken neck' connecting the mainland India with the North-East. He also showed utter contempt and disregard for the democratic means of protest,” it said.

Imam is being probed for his alleged inflammatory speech at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13 and subsequently on January 16 at Aligarh Muslim University, where he allegedly threatened to "cut off" Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India. He is currently lodged at Guwahati Central Jail.

The police had earlier submitted before the court that after his speech on December 13, widespread arson and violence took place in various parts of Delhi, and that several protest sites emerged after his January 16 speech.

He is presently lodged in Guwahati Jail, and has been declared Corona positive.