Jamia Violence: Sharjeel Imam Chargesheeted, Booked For ‘Seditious Speech’, ‘Abetting Riots’

The first chargesheet in connection with the case was filed in February. It named him as the 'instigator' of the violence outside the university on December 15.

New Delhi: In a major development related to last December’s Jamia Millia Islamia violence case, the Delhi Police on Saturday filed a chargesheet against Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) research scholar Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested for giving seditious speech and abetting riots in the campus on December 15.

“On the basis of the evidence, sections 124A and 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were invoked in the case,” Delhi Police said in a statement.

Sharjeel Imam was arrested for instigating & abetting Jamia riots by his seditious speech, delivered on 13th December 2019. On the basis of evidence, sections 124A and 153A of the IPC (sedition and promoting enmity between classes) were invoked in the case: Delhi Police https://t.co/bhOW1fQkcV

— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2020

Sections 124A and 153A, notably, pertain to sedition and promoting enmity between classes, respectively.

This is the second chargesheet filed against Sharjeel Imam in the case. The first one was filed in February against 18 people, including him, and named him as the ‘instigator’ of the violence.

The 32-year-old, who is also an IIT-Bombay alumnus, was arrested on January 28 from his home state Bihar’s Jehanabad after being on the run in the wake of a video clip, in which he talked about cutting off the northeast from the rest of India, going viral on social media.

On December 13, Imam had given a speech outside Jamia Millia Islamia University against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), calling for people to sit on a chakka jam against the legislation.

Two days later, violence broke out outside the university during an anti-CAA march after which the Delhi Police, without permission from the Jamia chancellor, entered the campus and cracked down on students, in a bid to identify the hooligans, who, they said, had mixed with the regular students.

Sharjeel Imam was also one of the organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protests, but dissociated himself from it in January.