Sharjeel Imam withdraws plea seeking two weeks’ interim bail to contest Bihar polls

Activist Sharjeel Imam, accused of being part of a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2020 Delhi riots, on Tuesday withdrew his plea filed a day ago seeking interim bail for two weeks to contest the Bihar Assembly elections, his lawyer confirmed to Scroll.

The polls will take place in two phases on November 6 and November 11, and the votes will be counted on November 14.

Imam had on Monday filed the application before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of Delhi’s Karkardooma Courts, who is hearing the Delhi riots case.

The activist sought bail from October 15 to October 29 to contest as an independent candidate from the Bahadurganj constituency in Kishanganj district. Polling in Bahadurganj will take place in the second phase of the elections.

Imam’s lawyer Ahmad Ibrahim said that his regular bail plea is pending before the Supreme Court, reported Bar and Bench. Ibrahim added that the top court would have been the appropriate forum for the interim bail application.

Additional Sessions Judge Bajpai told Ibrahim to file an application to the effect and said the request would be allowed, according to Bar and Bench.

The activist has been in jail for more than five years.

He was arrested in January 2020 in connection with speeches made in Delhi, Aligarh, Asansol and Chakband during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed...

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