Top court refuses to pass any interim order on Sharjeel Imam’s plea to club multiple FIRs against him
Bengaluru: The Supreme Court refused to pass any interim order against Sharjeel Imam in a sedition case.
He had sought clubbing of multiple FIRs levelling sedition charges against him for allegedly making inflammatory speeches.
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have filed their counter affidavits on the issue, but no responses have been filed by Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
The top court said, "We cannot pass interim orders without seeing the replies of other states," a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and V Ramasubramanian said.
The counsel representing Assam sought time to file reply on the plea.
"We will give time," said the bench, which heard the matter through video-conferencing.
The apex court granted two weeks time to Assam, Manipur and Arunachal to file their replies and said that rejoinder be filed within a week thereafter.
The bench has posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.
Delhi Police has booked Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), he had said.
On January 28, Imam was arrested by Delhi Police's crime branch from Bihar's Jehanabad in a sedition case for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh.
The PhD student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) Centre for Historical Studies has been booked on sedition and other charges after purported videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were circulated on social media.
An FIR was registered against him by Delhi Police on January 25 under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever) among others.
"Two videos came to light, one was on December 13 at Jamia Milia Islamia and other was on January 16 at Aligarh, where it was noticed that Imam had delivered very inflammatory speeches in opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens and such comments can potentially affect religious harmony and weaken the unity and integrity of the country," police had said.
More on Sharjeel Imam:
He was heard asking people to cut off Assam from the rest of India.
In the video related to him, he is heard saying, "If we have 5 lakh organised people then we can permanently cut north-east from India at least for one month. Put so much (unclear) on the road that they cannot even remove it for a month. It is our responsibility to isolate Assam from India, then only they will listen to us."
He added, "Do you know what is happening to Assamese Muslims? NRC is already applied there, they have been put in detention centers. We may come to know that in 6-8 months all Bengalis have been killed - Hindu or Muslim. If we want to help Assam, then we will have to stop the way to Assam for the Indian Army and other supplies."
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