Sharjeel Imam, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and an accused in the “larger conspiracy” case related to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots, told Delhi’s Karkardooma Court on Thursday that his speeches neither provoked violence nor disrupted public order. His counsel also argued that there was no agreement of minds between him and co-accused Umar Khalid, another former JNU student named in the case, and that there were no phone calls or message exchanges between them.
Imam’s counsel argued that the prosecution’s case rests largely on WhatsApp chats, which, they said, were selectively presented to construct a narrative of riots. They maintained that Imam had no role in the violence that followed.
On Monday, the Supreme Courtdistinguished between “architects” and “facilitators” while granting bail to five accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case, but denied relief to Imam and Khalid. Of the 18 people initially arrested, 11 have been released on bail so far.
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Imam was arrested on January 28, 2020, in connection with the riots that erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens, which claimed 53 lives and left around 700 people injured.
‘Speeches didn’t disturb public order’
“I gave multiple speeches in Bihar and Bengal, but public order didn’t get disturbed there… The most important and credible evidence they (prosecution) rely upon is my speech. I gave my speech on December 13. Violence didn’t happen on that day… there’s no link,” Imam’s lawyers Talib Mustafa and Ahmad Ibrahim argued on his behalf.
The counsel added that the violence occurred on December 15 – two days after the Imam’s speech – and argued that there’s no link between the speech and the violence. The counsel also said that Sharjeel Imam left the Shaheen Bagh protest site following the statements from the political parties and that there was no violence post that.
According to his lawyers, Imam did not visit any protest site between January 3 and January 13.
‘Never spoke to Umar Khalid’
“In five years of my stay at JNU, I never spoke to Umar Khalid. I don’t know what coordination they are talking about. To establish a conspiracy, it is necessary to show the agreement between us, but they have failed to show any agreement,” Mustafa said.
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He added, “The allegations find no support from the materials relied upon by the prosecution. Rather, the applicant (Imam) never spoke to Umar Khalid. It is highly improbable and rather unbelievable that the applicant, who, as per the prosecution, was mentored by Umar Khalid, never had any calls or messages with him.”
He said both were added to two groups, the Muslim Students of JNU (MSJ) and the CAB TEAM, just because they were students of the same university.
According to the prosecution, Imam, along with other members of the MSJ, took part in a protest called by Jamia Millia Islamia students, where allegedly pamphlets were distributed to incite communal feelings among the Muslim community and induce them to protest against the CAA.
‘Planning chakka jam during Trump’s visit’
Police allege that the accused were aware of US President Donald Trump’s visit to India and had planned a “chakka jam” around that time. According to police, they intended to set up 23 protest sites that operated round the clock in “Muslim majority areas,” located near mosques and major roads, with the aim of escalating protests “once critical mass is generated” during Trump’s visit to Delhi.
“I (Sharjeel) was not part of any meeting or discussion that led to any violence. I was not part of the discussion regarding what was to be done during President Trump’s visit. I have not been called a top conspirator,” his lawyers argued. |
