The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked if former JNU student Sharjeel Imam can be prosecuted in different states for offences including sedition over a single speech.The top court was hearing the 2020 plea of Imam seeking the clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him across four states, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, for the alleged inflammatory speech delivered during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar was urged by senior advocate Sidharth Dave, who said couldn’t be subjected to multiple trials across the country for one speech.
Additional solicitor general S V Raju, appearing for Delhi Police which has also registered a criminal case against Imam, opposed the submissions and said, “He instigated a mob in Bihar, a mob in Uttar Pradesh and in Delhi. The offences are different.”