A court here on Saturday discharged student activists Sharjeel Imam and Asif Iqbal Tanha in the Jamia violence case. Additional Sessions Judge Arul Verma discharged them in a case registered at the Jamia Nagar police station in 2019.
A detailed order in the matter is awaited. However, Imam will continue to remain in jail as he is an accused in the larger conspiracy case of the 2020 northeast Delhi riots as reported by PTI.
Police had registered an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rioting, in connection with the communal violence that erupted after a clash between police and people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Imam had allegedly made speeches where he spoke about Assam and the rest of the Northeast being cut off from India. The student of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University called upon CAA protestors for a road blockade on the highway to Assam.
Referring to a strategic location named ‘Chicken Neck’, he suggested that an effective blockade would compel the government to listen to their demands.
After the speech went viral, five Indian states filed various cases relating to sedition against Imam including Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi.
He was accused of promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, and public mischief under the Indian Penal Code, and getting involved in unlawful activities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In the aftermath, Imam has clarified that he was speaking of road blockades and did not call for outright violence. Imam was also associated with the protests in Shaheen Bagh, which he later moved away from citing political interference and growing threat of violence.
The Supreme Court in 2022 had halted further registration of FIRs and punitive measures for sedition led by both the Centre and state governments until a government-formed committee re-examines the British-era law.