Sharjeel Imam, others to face rioting charges as Delhi HC partially reverses discharge order

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court partially overruled a trial court's decision to release all 11 defendants in the 2019 Jamia violence case.

Accused charges related to rioting and unlawful assembly will be brought against Sharjeel Imam, Asif Tanha, Safoora Zargar, and six other people. Other accusations made against them were dropped.

The Delhi Police requested the high court to overturn a trial court's ruling because it was "perverse" and "unsustainable in law." The high court agreed and issued its ruling in response.

The lawsuit relates to the unrest that broke out in Delhi's Jamia Nagar neighborhood in December 2019 following a confrontation between the Delhi Police and protesters opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The trial court had dismissed 11 defendants from the case in its judgment dated February 4 while stating that the police had used them as "scapegoats" and that criticism should be encouraged rather than silenced.

In its petition for revision, the police claimed that the trial court's order violated established legal principles, had serious flaws that went to the heart of the problem and was perverse.

The 11 individuals' legal representatives argued that the trial court's order was correct and rejected the police's petition.

Imam, Tanha, Zargar, Mohammad Qasim, Mahmood Anwar, Shahzar Raza Khan, Mohammad Abuzar, Mohammad Shoaib, Umair Ahmad, Bilal Nadeem, and Chanda Yadav are the 11 individuals who have been released from the case.