New Delhi: The Tihar jail administration has informed Delhi's Karkardooma Court that while conducting a search operation, a wrist watch was recovered from the possession of Sharjeel Imam, an accused of Delhi violence. The use of a wristwatch is prohibited and comes under the banned items inside the jail, said sources.
Although, the next hearing in the case will take place on August 16. The Tihar jail administration stated that the wristwatch was found in the possession of Sharjeel Imam on June 30, while carrying out the search operation inside the prison. It has been learnt from the Tihar jail administrative sources that Sharjeel was not cooperating with the prison authorities while carrying out searches.
On the other hand, during the trial of the case, advocates Talib Mustafa and Ahmad Ibrahim, appearing on behalf of Sharjeel, refuted the Tihar prison authorities' allegations that the wristwatch was a prohibited item inside the jail. "Sharjeel Imam was allowed to keep the same," they said.
During the search, Sharjeel Imam told jail officials that he has been allowed to keep the watch and the permission document (paper) related to possession of the watch, was mistakenly kept in a book, which was later sent to Bihar. Permission documents could be shown to jail authorities later on. Besides, the jail administration also alleged that Sharjeel was in possession of another bag during the search, he did allow officials to search the same.
Read: HC seeks police stand on interim bail plea of Sharjeel Imam
Apart from this, Sharjeel also complained of assault inside the jail. He further alleged that inmates of Tihar jail attacked him and also branded him a terrorist and anti-national. Hence, while hearing the petition, the court asked for the CCTV footage from the jail administration. Besides, the court also asked for the register from the Tihar prison authorities. Sharjeel Imam has approached the court citing a threat to his life in jail, said police sources.
On the other hand, the Karkardooma Court has reserved its verdict on the bail plea filed by Sharjeel Imam in the sedition case. The court is scheduled to pronounce the verdict on the bail application put up before the court by accused Sharjeel Imam on July 20. Earlier on April 11, the Karkardooma Court had rejected Sharjeel's bail application. On January 24, the court taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed against Sharjeel Imam in the case ordered the framing of charges.
The chargesheet alleged that Sharjeel Imam made inflammatory speeches against the Central government to foment trouble in society, which led to the violence in December 2019. The Delhi police in its chargesheet further alleged that a deep-rooted conspiracy was hatched under the garb of protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The campaign was carried out against the CAA in Muslim-dominated areas of Delhi. A rumour was propagated among the Muslim community that they would lose their citizenship and will be kept in a detention camp.
