Google Search for Web:
National Political News:
Kajal Agrawal
‘Scapegoats’: Delhi Court Discharges Sharjeel Imam, 10 Others From 2019 Jamia Violence Case Featured
-
font size
decrease font size
increase font size
The court pulled up the prosecution, stating that it had made some persons "scapegoats" because it was unable to apprehend "actual perpetrators".
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday, February 4, discharged student leaders Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and eight others in connection with the violence which broke out near Jamia Millia University in Delhi in December 2019.
Additional sessions judge Arul Varma of the Saket district court said the prosecution was unable to apprehend the “actual perpetrators” but made the accused persons “scapegoats”, according to LiveLaw.
The judge noted that the prosecution had filed “ill-conceived chargesheets” in which the police arbitrarily chose to array “some people from the protesting crowd as accused and others as police witnesses”. This “cherry picking” is detrimental to the precept of fairness, the court added.
Judge Varma said, “Dissent was an extension of the fundamental right to freedom of speech”.
“It would be pertinent to underscore that dissent is nothing but an extension of the invaluable fundamental right to Freedom of Speech and Expression contained in Article 19 of the Constitution of India, subject to the restrictions contained. It is therefore a right which we are sworn to uphold,” the judge affirmed, according to Indian Express.
Stressing the need to protect the freedom to dissent, the judge further said, “When something is repugnant to our conscience, we refuse to obey it. This disobedience is constituted by duty. It becomes our duty to disobey anything that is repugnant to our conscience.”
Judge Varma also went on to quote Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud who had described dissent as a safety valve of democracy. “The destruction of spaces for questioning and dissent destroys the basis of all growth – political, economic, cultural and social. In this sense, dissent is a safety valve of democracy,” Judge Varma quoted the CJI.
He pulled up the prosecution and questioned multiple charge sheets filed into the matter. “In the present case, it has been most unusual of the police to file one chargesheet and not one but three supplementary chargesheets, with really nothing to offer. This filing of a slew of chargesheets must cease, else this juggernaut reflects something beyond mere prosecution, and would have the effect of trampling the rights of accused persons,” he observed.
The judge ruled that there was no prima facie evidence to suggest that the accused persons were part of a mob that launched violence, nor were they brandishing any weapon or throwing stones. “Surely prosecutions cannot be launched on the basis of conjectures and surmises, and chargesheets definitely cannot be filed on the basis of probabilities,” he told the police.
The court also said that the police should have gathered credible intelligence and used technology for investigation rather than making the accused persons “scapegoats” and galvanising resources to prove charges against them. “Else, it should have abstained from filing such an ill-conceived chargesheets qua persons whose role was confined only to being a part of a protest,” he added.
The case in which Imam and others were discharged is connected to the incidents of violence at Jamia Milia Islamia University in December 2019. Accoding to LiveLaw, the FIR alleged offences of rioting and unlawful assembly and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
However, Imam will remains in custody as he is accused in the “larger conspiracy” case related to the 2020 Delhi riots. Tanha and Zargar are also accused in the case, which invokes sections of UAPA.
Latest from Super User
- ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 Schedule Announced
- US, UK, EU condemn Pakistan’s convictions for civilians: Why it matters
- Syrian authorities announce disbandment of rebel groups: What is known
- Saudi Arabia wins 2034 Fifa World Cup bid
- Indian rupee slips to lifetime low on dollar bids as Fed policy review looms
Headlines
Priyanka Gandhi:
OMAR ABDULLAH:
YouTubeBox _A
NRI News:
-
H-1B modernisation rule: Flexibility in defining eligible occupations but stricter site-visit norms
The Biden administration has finalized new rules modernizing the H-1B visa program, just days before Trump's second inauguration. These changes aim to clarify specialty occupation criteria, offer flexibility to employers…
Read more -
-
-
11 Indians die from carbon monoxide poisoning in Georgia's mountain resort
Tragedy struck a Georgian mountain resort. Eleven Indian restaurant workers were found dead. Authorities suspect carbon monoxide from a power generator. The generator was indoors, near sleeping quarters…
Read more -
Andhra Pradesh woman dies, 2 friends injured in US car crash
A 26-year-old Indian student, Nagasri Vandana Parimala, pursuing a master's in data science in Memphis, Tennessee, died in a car accident on Friday. Two of her friends traveling with her…
Read more -
-
Australia’s net migration drops by 16% to 4.46 lakh; arrivals decline by 10% to 6.67 lakh
Australia saw its first drop in net migration since reopening borders. Indian arrivals led but declined by 19%. International student arrivals fell significantly. Overall migrant arrivals decreased…
Read more -
'He will kill me': Harshita Brella, Indian woman found dead in UK, warned family about husband
Harshita Brella's family alleges she told them her husband, Pankaj Lamba, threatened to kill her days before her body was found in London. Lamba is the prime suspect. …
Read more -
Indian-origin OpenAI whistleblower dies by suicide in SFO home
Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former OpenAI employee and whistleblower, died by suicide in San Francisco. He had publicly accused OpenAI of copyright infringement in developing ChatGPT and expressed concerns…
Read more
