Court seeks Tihar jail officials' presence in case involving Sharjeel Imam

A Delhi court on Saturday directed Tihar jail officials to appear before it on August 1 during the hearing on the matter related to the alleged assault on former JNU student Sharjeel Imam on prison premises.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat passed the directions after watching the CCTV footage submitted by Tihar jail authorities related to the alleged incident.

During the hearing, the judge observed that prima facie, it was not an assault. But the counsel said that pushing, shoving and slapping were within the ambit of assault.

Imam had alleged that he was assaulted and called a terrorist during a security check inside the Tihar jail premises on June 30. He claimed he was shoved and thrashed by some 'sewadars' inside his corner room cell.

Sewadars are inmates who assist the jail staff.

The assault revealed the intention of the jail administration, he said in his application.

"Though the Assistant Superintendent was present, he did nothing to defuse the situation," Sharjeel said.

Imam's counsel Ahmad Ibrahim said that according to the affidavit of jail authorities, the deputy superintendent was present during the incident.

This was a lie as he was not seen anywhere in the footage. Also, the footage showed that there was no supervision of the sewadars while they were conducting the search, the counsel said.

The judge posted the matter for August 1 and asked Tihar Jail officials, including the Jail Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, to remain physically present.

Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against Imam in the case, in which it alleged that he gave speeches inciting hatred, contempt, and disaffection towards the central government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019.

Imam is in custody since January 2020 in connection with the cases related to alleged seditious speeches at various places during protests against the CAA and NRC.

He is also an accused in a case related to the larger conspiracy of the North-East Delhi riots of February 2020.