Sharjeel Imam moves court for interim bail to contest Bihar elections

Jailed activist and student leader, Sharjeel Imam, has moved a Delhi court seeking interim bail for two weeks to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, Bar and Bench reported.

Imam filed the interim bail application before Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sameer Bajpai of Karkardooma Courts, who had been hearing the February 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.

Imam will run in the Bihar elections from the Bahadurganj constituency in Kishanganj district.

The state assembly elections are scheduled in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, the results of which will be declared on November 14. Imam has sought bail from October 15 to October 29.

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Although he has been granted bail in other cases, he remains in custody due to the Delhi riots conspiracy case, in which the Delhi Police had applied the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Imam’s interim bail plea describes him as a “political prisoner and a student activist”.

“He [Imam] is willing to contest elections from his home state Bihar which is scheduled to take place in 2 phases from 10.10.2025 to 16.11.2025,” the plea states.

Currently, the Bahadurganj seat is represented by Mohammed Anzar Nayeemi, who was elected on an AIMIM ticket in 2020 but switched to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

A native of Kako village in Jehanabad in Bihar, the JNU activist has been in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since January 2020, spending over five years in pre-trial detention.

He recently moved the apex court after the Delhi High Court in September refused him bail in the larger conspiracy case linked to the Delhi riots.

Additionally, Imam’s lawyers have argued that his prolonged incarceration is due to delays in the trial process, for which he shouldn’t be held responsible.

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