Sharjeel Imam granted bail in sedition case related to Delhi riots, arrested 4 years back.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted statutory bail to student leader Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 riots case. Sharjeel Imam was arrested on charges of sedition and illegal activities. However, Sharjeel Imam is still in jail in other cases. Sharjeel Imam delivered a speech at Jamia Millia Islamia on 13 December 2019 and at Aligarh Muslim University on 16 December 2019, where he threatened to cut off Assam and other northeastern states from the country. A case was registered against Sharjeel Imam by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. He has been in custody since January 28, 2020. Sharjeel Imam had stated in the plea that the maximum sentence under the sections under which the case is pending is 7 years and he has already served half of that sentence. Therefore, he should be granted statutory bail. A bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain accepted the bail plea of ​​Sharjeel Imam. He had filed a petition challenging the trial court's order refusing to grant statutory bail in the case. Lawyers Talib Mustafa and Ahmed Ibrahim appeared on behalf of Sharjeel Imam. SBP Rajat Nair appeared on behalf of Delhi Police. What arguments were given? Mustafa, appearing for Sharjeel Imam, said Sharjeel had already served four years and seven months of the maximum sentence of seven years. However, Nair opposed the plea on the ground that Sharjeel Imam had not served half the sentence. He said that Sharjeel Imam's case completely falls under Section 436A of CrPC and therefore he has no statutory bail. A case was registered against Sharjeel Imam under FIR 22 by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. A case was first registered for sedition, then Section 13 of the UAPA was imposed.