New Delhi: Delhi High Court Monday sought the response of jail authorities on a plea by student activist Sharjeel Imam, in custody in a 2020 northeast Delhi riots case, seeking access to research material stored on a pen drive to complete his PhD.Justice Sanjeev Narula issued notice to the jail authorities and directed them to file a status report, fixing Nov 2 for the next hearing.Imam has sought access to research material on a pen drive using a standalone computer inside the prison premises, without any internet connectivity and under the supervision of Tihar Jail staff.Imam’s counsel said he had been in custody since Jan 2020 and was in the final year of his PhD at the time of his arrest. His synopsis has been approved by University Grants Commission (UGC) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he added.The special public prosecutor for Delhi Police said the state had not opposed the plea even before the trial court and only the jail authorities had objected to the pen drive and not to books before the trial court.The prosecutor said the prayer could be allowed under the supervision of jail authorities if the accused was ready to show the material he was seeking to access.Imam’s counsel proposed that the computer could be kept completely offline, without internet or Wi-Fi connectivity, and that the undertrial’s access could take place under the supervision of jail officials.He told the court that the pen drive contained several files, comprising research articles, books and screenshots of archival records required for Imam’s doctoral work.Imam was arrested on Aug 25, 2020, and booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for being one of the “masterminds” of the Feb 2020 riots that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.The case under the anti-terror UAPA concerns the alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the riots. The violence erupted during protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and National Register of Citizens.
