Delhi riots accused Sharjeel Imam on Friday sought adjournment of his bail plea pending before the Delhi High Court on the ground that the court while denying bail to another accused Umar Khalid, had made certain adverse observations against Imam as well without hearing him [Sharjeel Imam v The State of NCT of Delhi].
The division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar, however, took objection to Imam’s stance and said that legal arguments cannot be made when seeking an adjournment.
The bench remarked that it has no difficulty in adjourning the matter but said that the accused was making an assertion while seeking adjournment and the same cannot be taken on record without commenting on its merits.
“You can’t place this on record. To say that you are seeking legal advice in another matter can’t be a ground. It can’t be done in this manner. Please see what you have said. How can we take this on record without commenting on the merits of it,” the court asked advocate Ahmad Ibrahim representing Imam.
Umar Khalid was denied bail by the High Court on October 18. In that order, the Court had said that Imam was arguably the head of the Delhi riots conspiracy and referred to him as the “main conspirator”.
Imam’s counsel then moved an adjournment application in his bail plea stating that in light of the observations against him (Imam), he wants to seek further legal advice and explore the possibility of legal remedy before his case is heard.
The bench, however, said that legal arguments cannot be made while seeking adjournment.
“Don’t put all this on record. No wonder they (prosecution) have not given you their no objection. How can they? Can this be done? You ask for time but premised just on that. Don’t make it seem like we are responsible for you asking for some time,” the Court added.
Advocate Ibrahim then requested the matter to be listed for another date for argument after which the court said that it will hear it on December 16.
Bail appeals of other co-accused including Gulfisha Fatima, Meerah Haider and Khalid Saifi will now be heard on November 18.
