Activist Sharjeel Imam has been granted bail by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, May 29, after nearly four years after being arrested. Sharjeel, a research scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was arrested in January 2020 after a sedition case was filed against him for a speech he had delivered at the Aligarh Muslim University during widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In his speech, Sharjeel had called for a blockade of a narrow corridor that connects mainland India to the northeastern states to force the government to listen to the protesters’ demands.

The controversial CAA, which was passed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government in 2019, sought to fast-track citizenship for illegal migrants who came to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan and belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian religious communities. The Act notably excluded Muslims, triggering countrywide protests alleging that the legislation went against the tenets of the Indian Constitution.

According to reports, cases against Sharjeel were registered in several states including Delhi, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. He was charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) section relating to sedition, in addition to being slapped with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case related to the riots in northeast Delhi in 2020. The riots had broken out after groups of people supporting the CAA attacked the protest camps, leading to violence that spiralled out of control and left at least 53 people, mostly Muslims, dead. 

The imprisoned scholar had challenged a trial court order that refused to grant him bail, noting that an accused person’s custody could be extended under “special circumstances.” The maximum sentence for UAPA is seven years and Sharjeel argued that he had already been in custody for close to four years. 

The Delhi police alleged that Sharjeel made divisive speeches at events at the Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University. He was also attributed with organising the protest against the CAA in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh.