NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday held there were good and justifiable grounds for extending the time to complete investigation against JNU student Sharjeel Imam in a case related to alleged inflammatory speeches during the protests against CAA and NRC.
The high court said after perusing the details of the investigation carried out till the application or report was filed by the prosecution in the trial court and the points still pending to be carried out by the investigating authority, the decision to extend the period for carrying out the probe cannot be faulted with.
Justice V Kameswar Rao dismissed the plea by Imam, challenging the trial court’s June 25 order granting three more months to the Delhi Police, beyond the statutory 90 days, to complete the investigation in the case under the stringent UAPA.
The HC noted that the prosecutor’s report filed in the trial court stated, “since March 24, 2020, due to global pandemic a lockdown has been imposed due to which the pace of investigation was seriously disrupted’ and said this ‘clearly depicts the reasons for not completing investigation in 90 days’.
Imam was arrested on January 28 from Bihar’s Jehanabad district in the case related to violent protests against the CAA.