Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam was on Thursday granted bail by a Delhi court in relation to a case of alleged violence at Jamia Milia Islamia University in December 2019.
Dinesh Kumar, the chief metropolitan magistrate granted him bail on furnishing ₹25,000 bonds with one surety of like amount. He ordered, "Considering the nature of the offence, and the fact that he was not arrested during the investigation, the [bail] application is allowed".
The alleged incident of violence had occurred in December 2019, during student protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The FIR against him mentions offences like rioting, conspiracy, attempt to commit culpable homicide, voluntarily obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions, and assault under the Indian Penal Code.
However, the JNU student will still be in jail as he has three other cases pending against him in connection to violence in Delhi.
The court, saying that free speech cannot be exercised at the cost of communal peace and harmony had denied bail to Imam in connection with delivering an alleged inflammatory speech and inciting violence during the CAA-NRC protests in 2019.
Meanwhile, Imam is also accused of being one of the masterminds behind the February 2020 riots leading to the death of 53 people and over 700 injured. He has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
He was also arrested in another case under UAPA and sedition for his alleged speeches at two universities in 2019, where he allegedly threatened to "cut off" Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India.