Sharjeel Imam Completes Six Years in Jail Without Trial Conclusion

January 28, 2026 marks six years since Sharjeel Imam, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) research scholar and a prominent voice of the anti–Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) movement, was arrested and sent to jail.

Imam, now 36, was arrested on January 28, 2020, following multiple police cases registered against him across five states for speeches delivered during nationwide protests against the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). He was booked under serious charges, including sedition and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The CAA and NRC faced widespread criticism for being discriminatory, with opponents arguing that they disproportionately affect Muslims and undermine India’s secular constitutional framework. The CAA, passed in 2019, provides fast-tracked citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, while excluding Muslims—an aspect challenged by critics as violating the constitutional right to equality.

During the protests, Imam had called for “chakka jam,” or road blockades, as a form of peaceful civil resistance. Police authorities in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh accused him of delivering inflammatory and secessionist speeches and registered multiple FIRs against him.

He was later named as an accused in the Jamia protest case and the larger Delhi riots conspiracy case under UAPA. Police alleged that his speeches contributed to tensions ahead of the February 2020 violence in northeast Delhi. However, no violence occurred during or immediately after the January 16, 2020 speech in Aligarh, which forms the main basis of the case against him.

Sharjeel Imam is widely regarded as one of the key intellectual figures behind the Shaheen Bagh protest, a 100-day peaceful sit-in that became a symbol of resistance against the CAA.

An accomplished academic, Imam is originally from Jehanabad in Bihar. He is an IIT Bombay graduate, a trained software engineer, and a writer. He holds a Master’s degree in Modern History and Philosophy from JNU, was a recipient of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, and had qualified for the NET examination, making him eligible for a teaching career. Prior to his arrest, he had no criminal record.

A total of eight FIRs were registered against him. Courts have granted him bail in seven cases, including those involving UAPA and sedition, with several judicial orders noting that his speeches did not directly incite violence. He remains in custody only in the Delhi riots conspiracy case, where his bail has been denied despite the lack of direct evidence linking him to the violence.

Imam was arrested in this case nearly six months after the FIR was filed.

Recently, four co-accused in the same case—Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Meeran Haider—were released after spending more than 2,000 days in prison. However, the Supreme Court denied bail to Imam and several others, including Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi, observing that a “prima facie” case under UAPA existed.

The ruling drew criticism from human rights organisations, legal experts, political leaders, and civil society groups, who raised concerns over prolonged incarceration without trial.

Reacting to the decision, Imam welcomed the release of his co-accused but criticised what he described as the criminalisation of protest. He said that organised democratic dissent was being equated with terrorism, blurring the line between lawful protest and violent extremism.

Speaking from jail, Imam said his biggest concern was the health of his elderly mother but added that he remained hopeful. He also quoted poets Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Mirza Ghalib to express resilience amid prolonged incarceration.

His brother, Muzammil Imam, described the court’s decision as arbitrary and disappointing, questioning how a conspiracy could exist when most co-accused had been granted bail.

In 2025, Sharjeel Imam withdrew from the Bihar Assembly elections after the Delhi High Court rejected his bail plea and the Supreme Court declined to grant interim relief. In a statement, he said restrictions imposed on him as an incarcerated political prisoner made campaigning impossible.

Six years after his arrest, Sharjeel Imam continues to remain in prison, becoming a symbol for many critics of how India’s anti-terror laws are being used to detain individuals accused of political dissent, even as legal proceedings remain unresolved.

Source: Maktoob media