[BREAKING] Delhi High Court issues notice in Sharjeel Imam plea against Special Court order framing Sedition, UAPA charges

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice in a petition filed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam challenging a Special Court order that had framed charges of Sedition and offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against him [Sharjeel Imam v The State of NCT of Delhi]..Notice was issued by a Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and AK Mendiratta, which gave the State two weeks to place relevant documents on record..Appearing for Imam, Advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir told the Bench that notice has already been issued in the bail plea filed by his client. The Bench replied,"Hearing of the appeal will take longer than bail...There will be different considerations while deciding bail and appeal. I have said so in the Ansals judgment and that is upheld by the Supreme Court."Special Public Prosecutor then sought time to place documents on record, which was allowed by the Court. The matter will be heard on May 26..Imam approached the High Court challenging the framing of charges against him in a case related to an allegedly inflammatory speech he delivered at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.The Special Court had decided to frame charges against against him for Sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as Section 152A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion etc.), Section 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration, Section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and for offences under the UAPA..It was argued on behalf of Imam that the Court had failed to read speeches and pamphlets in their right perspective and entirety. Therefore, it wrongly concluded that they were communal in nature and spread dissatisfaction against the government, promoted enmity between groups and challenged the territorial integrity of India.The petition has been filed through Advocates Ahmad Ibrahim, Talib Mustafa and Kartik Venu. It stated, “The Special Court has further wrongly concluded that the Speeches in question have the tendency to create public disorder by resorting to violence in absence of any material whatsoever to even remotely suggest that the Appellant at any point of time called for or intended to incite violence. The Special Court has completely overlooked more than 20 such instances from the speeches in question wherein the Appellant has very categorically and emphatically urged the protestors to not indulge in violence at any cost.”The appeal also said that the lower court order failed to appreciate that in the absence of any incitement to violence or call for violence, no speech can be attributed to any criminality under Section 124A IPC and Section 13 of the UAPA..Sharjeel Imam: Why Delhi court decided to frame sedition, UAPA charges