The Karkardooma Court in Delhi on Monday granted a 10-day interim bail to activist and former JNU student leader Sharjeel Imam to attend his brother's wedding and care for his ailing mother.
Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai was hearing Imam's interim bail application, which sought relief for six weeks to attend the marriage that was scheduled for this month.
The Karkardooma Court then granted him interim relief from March 20-30. He will have to return to jail after his bail expires, as per a court order.
Imam was one of the activists booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over accusations of playing a role in the larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 communal riots in northeast Delhi, that killed 53 people and injured more than 700 others.
The Delhi Police's Special Cell continues to investigate the case, and has since alleged that the riots were a result of a "pre-planned and well-designed" conspiracy aimed at causing chaos to public order—amid protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Passed by the Parliament in December 2019 and notified in January 2020, the CAA provides for the citizenship of migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who belonged to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities and came to India before December 31, 2014.
This 10-day interim bail ruling also comes just months after the Supreme Court in January denied bail to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid (another of the alleged co-conspirators in the Feb 2020 riots case).
At the time, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria had observed that the prosecution had placed sufficient material on record to establish a prima facie case, indicating their involvement in the alleged criminal conspiracy.
However, at the same time, the apex court had also granted bail to five others accused in the case, noting that their roles in the riots were relatively minor as compared to Imam and Khalid.