Savvy Thakur
Published on: 07 December 2022 at 21:12 IST
Sharjeel Imam, a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), petitioned the Supreme Court to expunge certain remarks that the Delhi High Court had made about him when it denied co-accused Umar Khalid bail in the Delhi Riots Conspiracy case.
The Delhi High Court referred to Imam as “arguably the head of the conspiracy” when it denied Khalid bail.
According to the Imam, these remarks were made without giving him a chance to be heard and without any evidence being recorded, clearly in violation of Natural Justice Principles.
Advocate-on-Record Lzafeer Ahmad BF stated in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) that the observations made by the High Court are on the merits of the criminal case in which Imam’s bail application is still pending before the same court.
According to Imam, this violates his fundamental right to a free and fair trial, which is guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, making not only the bail application but also the criminal trial a fait accompli.
In addition, the petition asserted that there is absolutely no evidence to support the challenged observations.
“It is noteworthy that none of the disputed observations and comments are supported by the record. Instead, “they are ex-facie contradictory and even go beyond the allegations in the chargesheet,” according to the plea.
The plea also emphasized that none of the observations made in the order were mentioned in the conclusion, indicating that the observations were not required for Umar Khalid’s appeal to be decided.
Case Title: Sharjeel Imam vs. State of NCT of Delhi