The Delhi High Court on Monday sought a response from the Delhi Police on a petition filed by student activist Asif Iqbal Tanha, who has challenged the framing of charges against him in connection with the 2019 violence during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in the Jamia Nagar area.
Justice Sanjeev Narula issued a notice to the Delhi Police on Tanha’s plea and scheduled the next hearing for October 30. The matter will be heard along with similar petitions filed by Sharjeel Imam and other co-accused individuals in the same case. “Issue notice. Club with others,” the judge directed, indicating that Tanha’s case would be jointly considered with the other related matters pending before the court.
Tanha and several others were booked by the New Friends Colony Police Station under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act, and the Arms Act. In March, the trial court had framed charges in the case, making specific reference to a speech delivered by Sharjeel Imam on December 13, 2019, near Jamia Millia Islamia University. The court described the speech as "venomous," stating that it "pitted one religion against another" and amounted to "hate speech."
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Accordingly, charges were framed against Tanha, Imam, and nine other individuals. The trial court held that “accused Ashu Khan, Chandan Kumar and Aasif Iqbal Tanha committed abetment by prior conspiracy as well as by instigating violent mob activity at the spot, for which penal provision of Section 109 (abetment) of the IPC is justifiably invoked against them.”
Section 109 of the IPC pertains to abetment of an offence and stipulates that individuals found guilty under this section are liable to receive the same punishment as the principal offender. The case originates from incidents linked to the anti-CAA protests held at Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh in December 2019 and early 2020, after the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019.
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