‘Can’t blur lines between rioters and…': Court discharges Sharjeel Imam in Jamia violence case
1 min read . Updated: 04 Feb 2023, 05:30 PM IST
PremiumJamia Nagar violence: The court discharged 11 people including Sharjeel Imam in the case and said that Delhi Police was unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators, it booked the accused as scapegoats.
A Delhi court has discharged Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam in the 2019 Jamia Violence case. Violence erupted after a clash between people protesting against Citizenship Amendment Act and the police. Sharjeel was granted bail in 2021.
The court discharged 11 people including Sharjeel Imam in the case and said that Delhi Police was unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators, it booked the accused as "scapegoats".
However, the court ordered the framing of charges against one of the accused, Mohammad Ilyas.
Additional Sessions Judge Arul Varma said, “Marshalling the facts as brought forth from a perusal of the chargesheet and three supplementary chargesheets, this court cannot but arrive at the conclusion that the police were unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators behind the commission of the offense, but surely managed to rope the persons herein as scapegoats."
The judge said there were admittedly scores of protesters at the site and some anti-social elements within the crowd could have created an environment of disruption and havoc.
"However, the moot question remains -- whether the accused persons herein were even prima facie complicit in taking part in that mayhem? The answer is an unequivocal no," he added.
"Needless to say, the investigative agency is not precluded from conducting further investigation in a fair manner...in order to bring to book the actual perpetrators, with the adjuration not to blur lines between dissenters and rioters, and to desist from henceforth arraigning innocent protesters," he added.
Police had registered an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rioting, in connection with the communal violence that erupted after a clash between police and people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
As per the prosecution, Imam had allegedly made speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019 and at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019 where he threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India.
(With inputs from agencies)
