NEW DELHI: Days after the Supreme Court put the trial of sedition cases on hold, Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Sharjeel Imam has moved Delhi High Court seeking interim bail in a case of alleged inflammatory speeches by him in 2019 and 2020.
Imam said that since the apex court had put sedition Section 124A of IPC in abeyance, he was eligible to be released on bail. In view of this direction, the objections raised by the trial court stand removed, and observations surrounding the offence under the section cannot be taken into consideration in the proceedings at this stage, he argued.
Without IPC 124A, the case stands significantly diluted and improves his case for securing bail, Imam contended. According to the plea, Imam has been incarcerated for nearly 28 months while the maximum punishment for the offences, minus the sedition section, are punishable up to a maximum of seven years of imprisonment.
“The appellant meets the proverbial ‘triple test’ for bail. It is not the case of the prosecution that the applicant is a flight risk, at risk of influencing any witness or tampering with any evidence,” stated the plea, which is likely to be taken up on Tuesday by a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar.
Earlier, opposing any relief, Delhi Police said the charges were grave in nature.
