New Delhi: Sharjeel Imam, accused in the larger Conspiracy of Delhi Riots 2020 case, on Wednesday, sought an early hearing on his bail plea by the Delhi High Court. He stated that his bail plea has been pending for the last 28 months.
Imam sought an early hearing on his bail plea, which is scheduled for hearing on October 7. The plea is listed today before the division bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait.
It states that he had challenged the trial court order dismissing his bail plea. The appeal against the order has been pending for the last 28 months.
He has been in custody since January 28, 2020. He is an accused in the larger Conspiracy of Delhi Riots 2020.
Advocates Move Plea For Early Hearing
Advocates Talib Mustafa and Ahmad Ibrahim on behalf of Sharjeel Imam moved a plea for early/urgent hearing of Criminal Appeal seeking the setting aside of the order of 11.04.2022 passed by Karkardooma Court by which his regular bail application of the Appellant was dismissed.
The plea stated that the present Appeal was last listed for a final hearing on 29.08.2024, on which date, the High Court adjourned the matter and directed the same to be listed for a final hearing on 07.10.2024.
It is stated that the provisions of the NIA Act, appeals preferred Under section 21 of the NIA Act shall as far as possible be disposed of within 3 months from the date of admission of the Appeal.
It is also stated that the present Appeal has been pending adjudication before the High Court since 29.04.2022.
It is mentioned that since the issuance of the notice, the present Appeal has been listed for hearing at least 62 times before 7 different division benches.
Why The Hearing In The Matter Never Concluded?
On account of frequent changes in the composition of benches owing to roster change, recusal and transfer of Judges, the hearing in the matter never concluded thereby having led to a fresh cycle of hearings beginning every such time, the plea stated.
It stated that the last substantial hearing in the present Appeal took place before the Division Bench comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain.
The Appellant concluded his arguments before the said bench on March 19, 2024 and the arguments on behalf of the Respondent began on the same date, however, due to paucity of time, the same could not be concluded. The Court listed the present Appeal to be listed for further arguments on different dates.
However, before the arguments of the Respondent could conclude, the present Appeal was then listed before another division bench due to a change in the roster, the plea said.
It is submitted that the Supreme Court in several judgements held that bail applications ought to be decided expeditiously and preferably within 2-4 weeks and several guidelines and directions have also been repeatedly issued to all the High Courts and District Courts to scrupulously follow the timeline so indicate.
The plea also mentioned that the trial in the present matter has been pending before the Special Court since 2020. However, the investigation by the prosecuting agency is still ongoing and charges have not yet been framed so far, it added.
It said, "The prosecution seeks to examine more than 1000 witnesses in the matter and the documents being relied upon run into lakhs of pages."
It also stated that on account of Imam's continued incarceration for almost 4 and half years, he is unable to pursue his education and graduate with a doctorate degree.
It is mentioned that Imam is Ph.D. student and at the time of his arrest on 28.01.2020 was pursuing his final year of Ph.D. in Modern History from Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi.
