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Sharjeel Imam, who spewed venom against India, has increased difficulties, now the case will run under sedition

A Delhi court on Monday ordered framing of sedition charges against Sharjeel Imam, a JNU student and activist, in a 2019 case in which he visited Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and the national capital during the CAA-NRC protests in 2019. He had allegedly given provocative speech in Jamia area. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat passed sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, caste, place of birth, residence), 153B (accusation prejudicial to national unity), section 13 of the Charges were framed under
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and 505 of the IPC, which deals with statements relating to public order. According to the police, Imam made alleged inflammatory speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi on December 13, 2019 and Aligarh Muslim University in UP on January 16, 2020. He is in judicial custody since January 28, 2020 and is presently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. A detailed order is expected to be made available later.
Earlier, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dinesh Kumar of Saket court had granted him bail in the 2019 violence case registered at Jamia Nagar police station related to the violence that took place in Jamia on December 13-14, 2019. However, he was granted bail in the special case. , but he was in judicial custody in connection with cases under various sections of the IPC for the offenses of rioting and unlawful assembly. He was denied bail several times.

On 22 October, Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agarwal of Saket Court, while dismissing the petition, had held that the tone and tenor of the incendiary speech has a weak effect on public peace and harmony. The judge in his order had quoted Swami Vivekananda to say, “We are what our thoughts have made us, so be mindful of what you think. Words are secondary, thoughts are alive, they go far.”