[Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam Bail] Delhi High Court calls for FIR and chargesheet against Imam in Aligarh

The Delhi High Court on Friday said that it wanted to examine the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh against Sharjeel Imam for his allegedly inflammatory speech delivered at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). .A Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar said that it wanted to see the FIR and the chargesheet filed by the State of Uttar Pradesh since the Allahabad High Court had already granted him bail in the case arising out of the said FIR. .Advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, appearing for Imam, pointed out that the Allahabad High Court had already dealt with one of the speeches that were basis for the FIR registered against him by the Delhi Police. "There are two speeches attributed to me. One is at Jamia Milia Islamia on 13 December on 2019 and another on 16 Jan 2020 in AMU. FIR in question was lodged on 25 Jan and I am in custody since 28 Jan. More than two years have passed. I am facing five to six FIRs for the same speech. The Allahabad High Court has granted him bail in the same case. The interesting finding by the High Court is that there was no violence," Mir told the court. .Though Mir's instructing counsel said that the FIR can be shared on the screen, Justice Mridul too took exception to the suggestion, saying,"The screen share business has to stop. It's not a power-point presentation. Chargesheet is a germane document for determining bail, it has to be placed on record. You should put it on record. We don't have photographic memory."The Court, therefore, asked Mir to place the FIR in question as well as the chargesheet filed in the case before the High Court. The case will now be considered on May 26 along with Imam's appeal challenging the framing of charges of Sedition and offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). .In Umar Khalid's appeal against rejection of bail in the Delhi Riots larger conspiracy case, the Court said that it will consider the same on May 19, since Justice Mridul had nearly six special bench matters to deal with. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad said that he would like to argue first on the allegations of conspiracy, after which Senior Advocate Trideep Pais could argue. However, Pais objected and said he would make his submissions first. Pais also asked the Court separate Khalid's matter from Imam's petition, saying that his facts and arguments are different from the other cases. The Court agreed to the request. "Of course, you are entitled to that. But bear in mind that the allegation against you is that you acted in conspiracy," Justice Mridul remarked. .Finally, dealing with Imam's petition challenging the rejection of his bail in the larger conspiracy case related to the Delhi Riots, the Court said that it will hear the case after hearing Khalid's appeal, since Imam's name had repeatedly appeared in the order rejecting Khalid's bail. The Court said that it will hear the two matters sequentially and listed the case for further hearing on May 23. "I think it will take us over a week to hear the appeals. We will hear them in a flow so that we understand what the prosecution's case is," the Bench said. .The Delhi High Court is seized of a batch of matters related to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid. While Khalid has challenged the special court's order rejecting his bail in the larger conspiracy case, Imam has challenged the orders framing charges against him for Sedition and offences under the UAPA as well as denial of bail in cases related to his speeches at Jamia and AMU. He has also challenged the denial of bail in the Delhi Riots larger conspiracy case. .[BREAKING] Delhi Riots: Delhi High Court to hear bail appeals of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid together

[Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam Bail] Delhi High Court calls for FIR and chargesheet against Imam in Aligarh

Prashant Jha

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