2019 Jamia Nagar violence: Delhi HC sets aside order discharging Sharjeel Imam & others

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday partially set aside a trial court's order discharging 11 people, including JNU student Sharjeel Imam and activists Asif Iqbal Tanha and Safoora Zargar, in a 2019 Jamia Nagar violence case, and ordered the framing of fresh charges against them under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The judgment was passed on Delhi Police’s plea against the trial court order discharging the accused in the 2019 Jamia violence case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while pronouncing the verdict, said the right to peaceful assembly is subject to reasonable restrictions and that acts of violence or 'violent speeches' are not protected.

"Prima facie, as seen in the video, the respondents were in the first line of the mob. They were raising slogans of 'Delhi police murdabad' and were violently pushing the barricades," said the court, while referring to some of the accused.

The case concerns the violence that erupted after a clash between the Delhi Police and those protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the Jamia Nagar area here in December 2019.

The trial court had in its February 4 order discharged all 11 people from the case while holding that they were made "scapegoats" by police and that dissent has to be encouraged, not stifled.

The 11 people who were discharged by the trial court in the case are Imam, Tanha, Zargar, Mohammad Qasim, Mahmood Anwar, Shahzar Raza Khan, Mohammad Abuzar, Mohammad Shoaib, Umair Ahmad, Bilal Nadeem and Chanda Yadav.

(With PTI, Live Law inputs)