Court: Sharjeel Imam Led the Charge in 2019 Anti-CAA Unrest

A Delhi court on March 7 framed charges against PhD scholar Sharjeel Imam, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and nine others for their alleged involvement in the violence that erupted in Jamia Nagar during the 2019 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Vishal Singh, Additional Sessions Judge of the Saket court, stated that Sharjeel Imam “craftily clothed” his speech, refraining from directly mentioning other communities while subtly targeting them as the intended victims of the “chakka jam.”

“Why, otherwise, did Sharjeel incite only members of the Muslim community to disrupt functioning of society?” the court questioned.

The court ruled that Imam’s speech was designed to provoke anger and hatred, which ultimately led to large-scale violence in several North Indian cities.

“His speech was calculated — to evoke anger and hatred, the natural consequence of which was commission of widespread violence by members of unlawful assembly on public roads. His speech was venomous and pitted one religion against another. It was, indeed, a hate speech. He committed abetment by instigating violent mob activity through his communal speech, for which penal provision of Section 109 of the IPC read with Section 153A of the IPC is justifiably invoked against him,” the order stated.

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The court emphasized that a “chakka jam” cannot be considered peaceful. “Sharjeel was not only an instigator, he was also one of the kingpins of a larger conspiracy to incite violence,” it added.

Imam has been charged under various sections of the IPC, including 109 (abetment), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 153A (promoting enmity between groups). Additional charges include 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with a deadly weapon), 186 (obstructing a public servant), 333 (causing grievous hurt to a public servant), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and provisions under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

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The case stems from an FIR filed at the Crime Branch in New Friends Colony, which alleged that 41 vehicles- both government and private- were vandalized, and police personnel were attacked with stones during the protests.

Other individuals charged in the case include Ashu Khan, Chandan Kumar, Anal Hussain, Anwar, Yunus, Jumman, Rana, Mohd Harun, and Mohd Furkan.

However, the court discharged several accused, stating that “unless supported by any other credible evidence of physical presence, the location of the mobile phone is a poor and unreliable indicator of the presence or absence of a person at a given place.”