File picture of Sharjeel Imam. | Photo Credit: Reuters
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (April 29, 2025) made oral observations in favour of clubbing sedition FIRs registered across multiple States against former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam and transferring them to Delhi.
The court remarked that all the cases arose from one speech and dealt with the same offence.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said multiple and parallel trials would lead to “double jeopardy” and set a bad precedent leading to “huge difficulties” in the future.
“It is the same speech leading to the same offence in all the cases. The same speech was reheard across the country on social media platforms like YouTube,” Chief Justice Khanna addressed Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the NCT of Delhi.
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The Chief Justice asked if Mr. Imam was convicted in Delhi, would he be “convicted again and again and again in the other States for the same offence”.
Besides Delhi, Mr. Imam is facing FIRs in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
Mr. Raju argued against the clubbing and transferring of the cases to Delhi. He said the court in Delhi had already taken the evidemce of 22 witnesses.
The CJI then suggested staying the trial proceedings in the other four States till the one in Delhi was completed.
Mr. Raju said the speech delivered by Mr. Imam may be the same, but the mobs instigated by him were different in different States. “The speech may be the same, but the offences registered against him in each State is different, calling for separate trials,” Mr. Raju contended.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, for Mr. Imam, said his client cannot be dragged half way across the country, from one State to the other to face trial for the same speech.
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“Look at the type of speech you gave… That Assam should be separated from India…” Mr. Raju interjected.
“I may have given the worst speech. But you cannot take away my right to the rule of the law,” Mr. Dave shot back. He said by Mr. Raju’s logic “a person could face 500 different FIRs across the country, 500 different prosecutions, 500 different custody for giving one speech”.
The court listed Mr. Imam’s application, which dates back to 2020, after two weeks.
The Delhi Police had booked Mr. Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). On January 28, 2020, he was arrested by the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch from Bihar’s Jehanabad in a sedition case for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in the Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University.
The former student at the JNU’s Centre for Historical Studies was booked on sedition and other charges after purported videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act were circulated on social media.
Published – April 29, 2025 05:22 pm IST
