A Delhi court has ordered the framing of charges against Sharjeel Imam in the Jamia Millia violence case, nearly five years after his arrest on charges of sedition and making inflammatory speeches during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
In its order issued Monday evening, the Saket court described Imam as the "kingpin of a larger conspiracy" and characterized his December 13, 2019, speech as "venomous" and "calculated to evoke hatred." The court referred to his meetings with Jamia Millia students and other protesters on that day, specifically at 2 pm and 7 pm, which allegedly led to traffic disruptions and rioting.
The court noted that at around 7 pm, Imam addressed a gathering outside Gate No. 7 of Jamia University, delivering a 10-minute speech in which he labeled the CAA and NRC as "anti-Muslim." According to the order, he allegedly sought to incite the Muslim community against the government through public meetings and the distribution of inflammatory leaflets in Munirka, Nizamuddin, Shaheen Bagh, and Jamia Nagar. The court further asserted that his speeches were designed to "incite violence to pressurize the government."
The prosecution argued that these speeches led to widespread violence in parts of Delhi, including arson, vandalism of public property such as Delhi Transport Corporation buses, and damage to police and private vehicles. The court also noted incidents of stone-throwing and injuries sustained by at least 10 police personnel, though it acknowledged the lack of evidence indicating an intent to kill.
The order remarked that Imam’s speech was "craftily clothed" in academic language—given his status as a PhD student at Jawaharlal Nehru University—but was ultimately aimed at inciting communal tensions. While he avoided explicitly naming communities other than Muslims, the court observed that the intended impact of his "chakka jam" (sit-in protest) was directed at members of other religious groups.
"The speech was calculated to evoke anger and hatred, leading to widespread violence by members of the unlawful assembly on public roads. It was venomous and pitted one religion against another—it was hate speech," the court stated.
The court also dismissed Imam’s argument that he could not be charged with promoting enmity between religious groups in this case since a similar charge had been filed against him in another instance.
Imam surrendered to Delhi Police on January 28, 2020, after multiple cases were registered against him, including a sedition case in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, and another for promoting enmity between religions in Delhi. He was also charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), with the Saket court framing these charges in its latest order.
His arrest and prosecution have drawn criticism from politicians, students, and academics, who allege he was targeted for being a Muslim rather than for committing a crime. The controversy surrounding him intensified after his January 2020 speech on the NRC, in which he called for a blockade of the Siliguri Corridor—the narrow strip of land connecting Northeast India to the rest of the country. Following this remark, Manipur Police also filed a case against him.
In May 2024, Imam was granted bail by the Delhi High Court in a separate case related to the CAA protests. However, he remains incarcerated at Guwahati Central Jail in Assam due to his arrest in this case.