Student activist Sharjeel Imam on Monday urged Delhi High Court to grant him bail in an UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 communal riots here.

His counsel took the court through his alleged inflammatory speeches and argued that there was no call for any violence whatsoever by him as his method of disruption was “entirely Gandhian”.

Imam, United Against Hate founder Khalid Saifi and several others, including activist Umar Khalid, have been booked under the anti-terror law UAPA and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots in Northeast Delhi that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.

Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan argued before the court that no offence of indulging in any “terrorist act” according to the UAPA or conspiracy with co-accused persons was made out against Imam.

“I (Imam) was only in Shaheen Bagh which was non-violent. I only wanted a thousand Shaheen Baghs. There is not a scrap of evidence to suggest belief in violent ideology,” Ramakrishnan argued. The senior lawyer alleged that the police have “tried hard to set up a case” against him when there is “zero evidence”.

PTI