Delhi police file charge sheet against Sharjeel Imam in sedition case

The Delhi Police on Saturday filed a charge sheet against former Jawaharlal Nehru University research scholar Sharjeel Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a case related to delivering seditious speeches against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.

The charge sheet was filed in the Patiala House Court. The court will now hear the matter on July 27, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Rajesh Deo said.

The charge sheet has been filed under Sections 124A (Sedition), 153(A) (Promoting enmity), 153 (B) (Assertion prejudicial to national integration), 505 (spreading rumours) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Imam, who has tested positive for coronavirus, is currently lodged in the Guwahati Central Jail.

He came into the limelight for his speech in Delhi's Jamia Millia against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens on December 13 and subsequently on January 16 at Aligarh Muslim University, where he allegedly threatened to "cut off" Assam and the rest of the northeast from the country. A case of sedition was filed against him. He also figures in the Delhi riots charge sheet.

According to the Delhi Police, Imam exhorted people of a particular community to block the highways leading to major cities and resort to "chakka jam" in the garb of protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"He also openly defied the Constitution and called it a 'fascist' document. In the name of opposing CAA, he also openly propagated blocking the 'chicken neck' connecting mainland India with the northeast. He also showed utter contempt and disregard for the democratic means of protest," said the police.