New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday denied bail to JNU student Sharjeel Imam in a sedition case lodged against him for allegedly delivering an inflammatory speech and inciting violence during the CAA-NRC protests in 2019, saying free speech cannot be exercised at the cost of communal peace and harmony.
On December 13, 2019, Sharjeel allegedly delivered a provocative speech, which, according to the police, resulted in riots two days later when a mob of over 3,000 persons attacked police personnel and torched several vehicles in the Jamia Nagar area in south Delhi. Rejecting his bail plea, Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agrawal, however, noted that evidence in support of allegations that the rioters got instigated by Imam’s speech and thereafter indulged in rioting, was scanty and sketchy.