Sharjeel Imam, an accused in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi Riots, has requested an early hearing on his bail plea from the Delhi High Court, noting that it has been pending for the past 28 months.
His bail plea is currently scheduled for a hearing on October 7, but he is seeking to expedite the process.
The plea, represented by Advocates Talib Mustafa and Ahmad Ibrahim, challenges the trial court’s April 2022 order that dismissed his regular bail application. Imam has been in custody since January 28, 2020.
The appeal was last scheduled for a final hearing on August 29, 2024, but was adjourned by the High Court, which set a new hearing date of October 7, 2024. The plea highlights that, according to the NIA Act, appeals should be resolved within three months from the date they are admitted. However, Imam’s appeal has been pending since April 2022.
The plea also notes that the appeal has been listed for hearing at least 62 times before seven different division benches. Frequent changes in bench composition due to roster changes, recusals, and judge transfers have prevented the hearing from concluding, resulting in repeated cycles of new hearings.
The last substantial hearing occurred on March 19, 2024, before a bench comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain. Imam had finished presenting his arguments, and the respondent began theirs, but due to time constraints, they could not complete them. The case was then moved to another division bench due to a roster change before the respondent’s arguments could be finalized.
The plea references several Supreme Court judgments that emphasize the need for bail applications to be decided swiftly, ideally within 2-4 weeks. Despite this, Imam’s trial has been pending before the Special Court since 2020, with the investigation still ongoing and charges yet to be framed.
The prosecution intends to examine over 1,000 witnesses, with documents spanning hundreds of thousands of pages. The plea also notes that Imam has been incarcerated for nearly four and a half years, disrupting his education and preventing him from completing his Ph.D. in Modern History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. At the time of his arrest on January 28, 2020, Imam was in the final year of his doctoral studies.
