By Maktoob
The Delhi High Court on Monday sought responses from Tihar Jail authorities and the Delhi Police on a plea by Muslim student leader and UAPA-accused undertrial prisoner Sharjeel Imam, seeking access to research material stored on a pen drive and permission to use computers inside the prison to continue his PhD work.
Advocate Ahmad Ibrahim, appearing for Imam, told the court that Imam has been in custody since January 2020 and was in the final year of his PhD at the time of his arrest, Bar & Bench reported.
“At the time of his arrest, he was in the final year of his PhD. His synopsis has been approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the University [JNU]. I am asking that he be allowed his research material,” Ibrahim said.
He clarified that Imam was not seeking access to the internet, but only permission to use the computer facilities available inside the jail.
When the court asked why physical copies of the research material could not be provided, Ibrahim said the material would run into lakhs of pages.
Imam had enrolled as a doctoral scholar in Modern History at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) before his arrest in January 2020.
Through his plea before the High Court, he has sought permission to receive research material from his lawyers on a pen drive and use the computers available inside the jail to continue his PhD work.
He has submitted that the material is neither banned nor restricted by the Government of India.
According to Imam, a trial court in April 2026 had directed the Superintendent of Prison to consider his request. The then Superintendent subsequently permitted him to receive the pen drive from his lawyers.
However, the Superintendent was transferred before the material could be handed over to Imam.
The new Superintendent later declined to allow him to receive the research material or use the prison computers, stating that a specific court order would be required.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
