Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam
NEW DELHI: Analysing the alleged inflammatory speeches of Sharjeel Imam, being prosecuted under UAPA in connection with the Northeast Delhi riots, Supreme Court said Tuesday his speech on blocking “Chicken’s Neck”, or Siliguri Corridor, was objectionable, but his lawyer pointed out other parts of the speech in which he appealed to protesters to adhere to the constitutional spirit and non-violence, and admitted that it could have been better-worded.Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Sharjeel, also told the court that there was no credible evidence against him because of which he was rightly not made an accused in any one of the 750 cases related to the 2020 riots registered in the capital.
Cops to counter bail petition of Sharjeel today
Dave made the court hear other clippings of Sharjeel’s speeches in which he had appealed to people not to resort to violence while protesting.Dave contended that Sharjeel was being prosecuted in 10 different cases in different states arising out of his speeches and he had been granted bail in all the cases and cannot be prosecuted again under the anti-terror law. He told SC that he was already in custody when the riots broke out and there was no evidence against him as he was not associated with the rioters.“There is a legislation in Parliament. He was resisting the legislation. He is entitled to protest. Some of his speeches are unpalatable. It could have remained within the four corners of law. But today he is standing, asking for bail after six years in custody. He was not physically present or an accused in any of the cases when the riots actually took place,” he said. Dave also questioned why the govt did not bring NIA to probe the cases in view of Delhi Police’s allegation that it was an attempt for regime change. He concluded by quoting from a poem Faiz Ahmed Faiz penned during his incarceration in Pakistan: “Dil naummeed tou nahin nakaam hi to hai. Lambi hai gham ki shaam, magar shaam hi toh hai… (My heart is not unhopeful even if I have failed. Long is this night of sorrow, but it is only a night).”
