‘Booked as scapegoats’: Sharjeel & 10 others discharged in Jamia case
Court pans police, says dissent has to be encouraged, not stifled
A Delhi court on Saturday discharged 11 people including student activists Sharjeel Imam and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who participated in anti-CAA protests, in the 2019 Jamia Nagar violence case, saying they were made “scapegoats” by police and that dissent has to be encouraged, not stifled.
Noting that the accused were merely present at the protest site and there was no incriminating evidence against them, the court said dissent is an extension of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, subject to reasonable restrictions.
It said investigative agencies need to discern the difference between dissent, which has to be given space, and insurrection that should be quelled.
The court, however, ordered the framing of charges against one of the accused, Mohammad Ilyas.
“Marshalling the facts as brought forth from a perusal of the chargesheet and three supplementary chargesheets, this court cannot but arrive at the
conclusion that the police were unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators behind the commission of the offence, but surely managed to rope the persons herein as scapegoats,” additional sessions judge Arul Varma said.
The court faulted the police for failing to produce any WhatsApp chats, SMS or other proof of the accused interacting with each other and criticised it for “arbitrarily” choosing to array some people from the crowd as accused and police witnesses, saying this “cherry-picking” by the police is detrimental to
the precept of fairness.
An FIR was lodged in connection with the violence that erupted after a clash between police and people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the Jamia Nagar area here in December 2019. Imam was accused of instigating the riots by delivering a provocative speech at the Jamia Milia University on December 13, 2019. He will continue to remain in jail as he is an accused in the larger conspiracy case of the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
The judge said there were admittedly scores of protesters at the site and some anti-social elements within the crowd could have created an environment of disruption and havoc. However, the moot question remains -whether the accused persons herein were even prima facie complicit in taking part in that mayhem? The answer is an unequivocal no,” he added.
The court said the legal proceedings against the 11 accused were initiated in a “perfunctory and cavalier fashion” and “allowing them to undergo the rigmarole of a long-drawn trial does not augur well for the criminal justice system of the country”.
“Furthermore, such police action is detrimental to the liberty of citizens who choose to exercise their fundamental right to peacefully assemble and protest. The liberty of the protesting citizens should not have been lightly interfered with,” it said.
The court said dissent is an extension of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, subject to reasonable restrictions.
Referring to a of the Supreme Court, the judge said the court is duty-bound to lean towards an interpretation that protects the rights of the accused, given the ubiquitous power disparity between them and the state machinery.
The court said the investigative agencies needed to discern the difference between dissent and insurrection. “The latter (insurrection) has to be quelled indisputably. However, the former (dissent) has to be given space, a forum, for dissent is perhaps reflective of something which pricks a citizen's conscience,” it said.
The court also said dissent has to be encouraged and not stifled, with the condition that it should be absolutely peaceful, without degenerating into violence. The judge said the probe agency should have incorporated the use of technology or gathered credible intelligence against the accused.
“Else, it should have abstained from filing such ill-conceived chargesheets qua persons whose role was confined only to being a part of a protest,” he said.