Imam, who is in jail for over five years, will contest the Bihar elections from Bahadurganj constituency in Kishanganj district as an independent candidate. Student activist Sharjeel Imam, who is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail over Delhi riots case, has moved a Delhi Court seeking interim bail to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
Bihar assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, while the results will be declared on November 14. Sharjeel Imam has sought bail from October 15 to October 29. Bahadurganj will go to polls on November 11. He has filed the interim bail application before Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma Courts, who has been hearing the Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The Bahadurganj seat is currently represented by Mohammad Anzar Nayeemi, who was elected in 2020 on an AIMIM ticket, but switched to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Imam, an anti-CAA activist in jail since January 2020, is a native of Kako village in Jehanabad. He has spent over five years in pre-trial detention.
His petition is currently being heard before the Supreme Court, after the Delhi high court Three days after the Delhi High Court last month refused bail in the larger conspiracy case linked to the February 2020 Delhi riots. Imam’s counsel has argued that his incarceration has been prolonged due to systemic delays in the trial for which he cannot be blamed.
The student activist’s announcement comes months after Delhi riots accused Shifa-ur Rehman and Tahir Hussain had contested assembly elections in Delhi on AIMIM ticket.
