 Summary of this article
- Sharjeel Imam withdraws his interim bail plea from Tihar to contest Bihar’s Bahadurganj assembly seat.
- His long incarceration under UAPA and reflections on justice, politics, and representation continue to draw attention.
- Imam’s earlier interview with Outlook, titled “Justice Has To Be the Keyword,” highlights broader issues of bail, delay, and democratic rights.
More than five years after his arrest in connection with the alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the 2020 Delhi riots, student activist Sharjeel Imam has now withdrawn his plea for 14 days’ interim bail from Tihar Jail. The plea had sought a window of freedom to file his nomination and campaign for Bihar’s Bahadurganj assembly seat as an Independent candidate.
Advocate Ahmad Ibrahim, appearing for Imam, stated that his regular bail petition is pending before the Supreme Court and argued that the apex court was the proper forum for the interim bail application. Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai allowed the withdrawal and directed Ibrahim to file an application to that effect.
The application, originally filed before ASJ Bajpai, had recounted Imam’s journey from a PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University to a highly debated figure in India’s recent protest history. Imam, arrested on 25 August 2020, had described himself as a “political prisoner and student activist” and cited family constraints, his younger brother caring for their ailing mother, as a reason for seeking temporary bail.
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‘Justice Has To Be Keyword’: UAPA Arrestee Sharjeel Imam Speaks From Tihar
The plea had also referred to the September 2024 Patiala House Court order granting interim bail to Engineer Abdul Rashid for campaigning in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Imam’s request had sought similar consideration for the period spanning 15 to 29 November 2025.
Sharjeel Imam has been in jail since January 2020 in cases linked to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). While granted bail in some matters, he remains incarcerated under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the Delhi riots conspiracy case. His regular bail petition, denied by the Delhi High Court on 2 September, is still pending before the Supreme Court.
His reflections from Tihar resurface in a changed political landscape. Sharjeel Imam’s story is less about a comeback than a quiet insistence: that the right to participate in democracy should not end at the prison gate.
The development has renewed attention on Imam’s long incarceration and brings back to focus his recent interview with Outlook, where he spoke from Tihar Jail about justice, politics, and what his years in custody had taught him.
In his interview, “Justice Has To Be the Keyword”: UAPA Arrestee Sharjeel Imam Speaks From Tihar, reflecting on the broader questions of bail, delay, and justice that surround such cases. |
