Sharjeel Imam was born in 1988 at Kako village of Jehanabad district, Bihar. His father Akbar Imam was a politician, mother Afshan Rahim is homemaker and brother Muzzammil Imam is a social activist. Akbar Imam was a Janata Dal ’s candidate in Jehanabad constituency in the 2005 assembly election. In 2014, Akbar died of cancer, after an illness lasting many years. Sharjeel Imam started school in 1994; he was considered as bibliophile by his teachers. His high school was a missionary school in Patna. After completing high school in 2006, he studied computer engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. After graduation, he spent two years in Bengaluru where he joined a software company. In 2013, he joined Jawaharlal Nehru University to complete his Masters degree in Modern History and started Ph.D in 2015 from the same university.
Imam initially appeared as an active volunteer of Anti CAA Protest at Shaheen Bagh, Delhi. He was arrest on a 3-minutes inflammatory speech viral video which is said to be twisted part from 40-minutes long speech video. In the viral video he was calling Assam to be "cut off" from the rest country which he explained as call for "chakka jam".
On the same day, Aligarh Police in Uttar Pradesh also registered case against Imam for sedition and creating enmity between two groups.
Manipur police also filed an FIR against Imam for waging war against the Indian government, sedition, indulging in vilification, attacks on a particular group or conspiracy to commit offences. The police filed the FIR for his remarks of "cut off" northeast from rest of the country under FIR number 162020 IPC under sections 121/121-A/124-A/120-B/153 IPC.
On 26 January 2020, Arunachal Pradesh's Itanagar police filed FIR against Imam under section 124, 153 and 153 of the Indian Penal Code for sedition, promoting enmity between groups.
The Delhi police filed an FIR under Indian Penal Code's section 153 in addition to the charges of sedition and promoting religious enmity.
Prison
On 28 January 2020, Sharjeel Imam was arrested for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches against Citizenship Act and National Register of Citizens. He was also booked under Unlawful Activities Act. After his arrest he was taken to Assam and is held in Guwahati Central Jail. Whilst in prison he was infected with COVID-19, and tested positive for it on 21 July 2020. The prison he is in holds slightly more than 1,000 inmates; least 435 inmates had tested positive for this disease by 22 July 2020. On 29 July 2020, Delhi Court had issued a summon against Imam in the case related to his alleged inflammatory speech. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana after viewing the charge-sheet filed under UAPA against Imam and asked him to appear in court on 1 September 2020. The court took this decision due to coronavirus pandemic and said that if the physical appearance of the Imam is not possible then he can be presented via video-conferencing.
