Delhi court says Sharjeel Imam ‘kingpin’ of 2019 Jamia violence, frames charges

A Delhi court has called activist Sharjeel Imam “one of the kingpins” of a “larger conspiracy” to incite violence in 2019 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the national capital, Live Law reported on Monday.

Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh of the Saket Court made the statement on March 7 while framing charges against Imam and 10 others.

The case pertains to the violence that had erupted at the Jamia Millia Islamia campus on December 15, 2019, during a students’ protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Imam has been accused of making allegedly seditious speeches at the university in 2019.

On March 7, the court noted that Imam had argued he was neither part of the “unlawful assembly that committed rioting on 15/12/2019, nor did he incite the public persons to engage in violent activities” by a speech he had given during the protests, reported Maktoob Media.

The judge said that Imam could not be charged for an offence under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code in the case as it would violate the principle of double jeopardy, which mandates that no person can be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.

Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code criminalises the promotion of enmity between groups based on religion, race, language, or...

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