In a fresh legal twist, Sharjeel Imam has challenged a trial court’s order branding him the “kingpin” behind the 2019 Jamia Nagar violence, filing a plea before the Delhi High Court to contest the framing of charges that have added further weight to an already tangled case.
The trial court, in its March 7 decision, didn’t mince words. It painted Imam as the architect of chaos during the anti-CAA protests, claiming his speeches were “venomous” enough to light the fuse that led to widespread unrest, arson, and violent clashes on December 15, 2019. According to the court, Imam wasn’t just shouting from the sidelines — he was orchestrating the storm.
Justice Sanjeev Narula has now issued notice to Delhi Police, asking for their response to Imam’s challenge.
The charges weren’t limited to Imam. Alongside him, the court also charged Ashu Khan, Chandan Kumar, and Aasif Iqbal Tanha, alleging they led the charge — quite literally — on the day violence erupted near the Jamia Millia Islamia campus.
The prosecution claims Imam wasn’t merely an angry voice in the crowd. Instead, they allege he spearheaded a strategy: holding public meetings, distributing provocative flyers, and using social media to galvanize students and activists, particularly from the Muslim community, in the days leading up to the protests.
Imam has pushed back hard, saying he wasn’t even part of the mob on December 15. His legal team argued that the case against him duplicates charges he’s already facing in a separate FIR — notably under sedition and hate speech provisions. They invoked the principle of double jeopardy, trying to quash the fresh charges.
The court wasn’t convinced. It ruled that Imam’s alleged involvement in the Jamia incident stood on its own and merited independent charges.
As it stands, Imam faces a laundry list of serious offences — criminal conspiracy, abetment, promoting enmity, rioting, assaulting public servants, arson, and even attempted culpable homicide — under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
However, the sedition charge — once a headline-grabbing centerpiece — remains on pause. The Supreme Court’s ongoing review of Section 124A has put all related prosecutions in limbo for now.
The case against Imam continues to thicken, and now, it’s the Delhi High Court’s turn to decide whether the trial court overstepped — or merely exposed a deeper truth.