A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to JNU scholar and anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam in a 2019 violence case registered at Jamia Nagar Police Station.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dinesh Kumar of Saket court said, “considering the nature of offence, and the fact that he was not arrested during the investigation, the application is allowed.”

He was granted bail subject to him furnishing a bail bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 with one surety of like amount.

The court fined the Investigating Officer (IO) Rs 2,000 while noting his absence during the hearing. It further asked him to supply the copy of the main charge sheet by the next hearing to the accused who have not received it so far.

The FIR was registered at Jamia Nagar Police Station related to the violence in Jamia on 13-14 December  2019.

According to the FIR, Imam was charged under various IPC sections for offences of rioting and unlawful assembly.

On 1 December, the High Court had issued notice to the prosecution on the bail application filed by him in another case.

In the HC, Sharjeel had claimed that he was not one of the accused initially named in the FIR, but the police made him a party on the basis of a disclosure statement given by co-accused Md Furkan, who was allegedly instigated by his speeches.

He also claimed that he was targeted by the prosecution and was a victim of targeted persecution.

He has been in judicial custody since January 2020. He was initially arrested over his speech at Aligarh Muslim University. He has been granted bail in Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in connection with cases related to the same speech.