The Delhi High Court on Tuesday partially overturned a judgement that had discharged Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and eight others in a case involving the December 2019 rioting at Jamia Millia Islamia.
In her judgment, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma stated, “While there is no denial of the right to freedom of expression, this Court remains aware of its duty and has attempted to resolve the issue in that manner. The right to peaceful assembly is subject to restriction. Damage to property and peace are not protected.”
The Court partially overturned the trial court’s decision and charged nine of the eleven accused, including Imam, Tanha, and Zargar, with different offences such as rioting and unlawful assembly.
Imam, Zargar, Mohd Qasim, Mahmood Anwar, Shahzar Raza, Umair Ahmed, Mohd Bilal Nadeem, and Chanda Yadav were accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 143, 147, 149, 186, 353, 427, and the Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act.
Accused Mohd Shoaib and Mohd Abuzar were charged under Section 143 of the IPC and were cleared of all other charges. Tanha was discharged of Sections 308, 323, 341 and 435 of the IPC. Charges were framed against him under other sections.
The current case concerns the violence that occurred in and around Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019 after some students and locals stated that they would march towards Parliament to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
However, the protests quickly turned violent, and while the police used force to disperse them, some of the protesting students allegedly entered the University.
In total, Delhi Police charged 12 people in the case. Several articles of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were used against them, including rioting and unlawful assembly.
The trial judge, in an order issued on February 4, not only freed 11 of the 12 accused in the case, but also strongly reprimanded the Delhi Police for filing an “ill-conceived” chargesheet.
“Marshalling the facts as presented in the chargesheet and three supplementary chargesheets, this Court cannot help but conclude that the police were unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators behind the commission of the offence, but surely managed to rope the persons herein as scapegoats,” the Court stated.
In addition to Imam, Tanha, and Zargar, Mohammed Abuzar, Umair Ahmad, Mohammed Shoaib, Mahmood Anwar, Mohammed Qasim, Mohammed Bilal Nadeem, Shahzar Raza Khan, and Chanda Yadav have been released. Mohammed Ilyas was charged with various offences.
The order was contested in High Court by the Delhi Police. When the case was heard on February 13, Justice Sharma ruled that the remarks made in the verdict would have no bearing on the continuing investigation or proceedings against the accused.
However, the judge refused to pass an interim order expunging the remarks, as requested by the Delhi Police.
