Protest at Jamia Millia Islamia: Setback for Sharjeel Imam and other student leaders, HC sets aside discharge of accused

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the December 2019 protests organised at Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia was an unlawful assembly and the mob gathered at the spot with the intention to violate the law.

The Delhi High Court held the view while setting aside the order of the trial court discharging Sharjeel Imam and 10 others.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said that as per the prosecution, section 144 Cr.P.C. was already imposed in the area near Parliament.

"Therefore, making efforts to reach to a curfew imposed area and carry out protest therein was an unlawful object itself," justice Sharma held in the judgement.

The High Court while deciding the revision petition considered the video clips placed on record by the police as significant evidence.

The court said that the same was also brought to the notice of the crowd repeatedly by the concerned police officers by way of repeated announcements which can be clearly seen and heard in video clip number 2.

The high court also noted that the assembly was large and turned violent and pushed the barricades.

The court said, " Even otherwise, the mob was stopped by the police by creating a line of barricades, but the assembly had become so large and was pelting stones, was armed with tyres and dandas, and were shouting, standing on the barricades and violently pushing the same, and if at all they were trying to exercise the fundamental right of freedom of expression, by their unlawful acts of violence as discussed above their assembly had turned unlawful."

The bench said that the main aim of their initial protest against the government policy was lost in the violence and in their persistence to break the law to reach a curfew-bound area by use of violence and force against people and objects.

The Jamia Milia conflict took place on December 13, 2019. About 800 protesters were demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Delhi Police registered cases against 12 people, including Sharjeel Imam, for rioting and destruction of public property under the Indian Penal Code. On February 4, the trial court in Delhi acquitted 11 people.