A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Sharjeel Imam in a sedition case lodged against him for making an allegedly inflammatory speech during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in 2019.
Sharjeel Imam has been in custody for the past 31 months. He may, however, have to remain in custody in view of other cases against him.
Under a Supreme Court order of May 17, proceedings in the offence of sedition have been kept in abeyance. So Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agrawal granted Sharjeel default bail under section 153 of the Indian Penal Code (promoting enmity between two groups).
The court granted relief to the JNU student on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 30,000 and surety of like amount and some other conditions.
Sharjeel had moved an application seeking bail under section 436-A of the Criminal Procedure Code as he had already undergone more than half of the possible sentence in custody.