A bench led by Justice Sanjeev Narula directed the Delhi Police to file a response within four weeks. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for November 2. 

During the hearing, Advocate Ahmed Ibrahim, appearing for Sharjeel Imam, stated that Sharjeel was arrested in January 2020 and was in the final year of his PhD at the time. Both the UGC and JNU had already approved his research synopsis. He requested that Sharjeel Imam be allowed to view his research material stored on a pen drive. 

When the Court asked why he did not wish to obtain physical copies of the material, Ibrahim explained that the data spanned hundreds of thousands of pages. Ibrahim clarified that they were not seeking Internet access within the prison but rather a computer without Internet connectivity where he could view his research material.

Sharjeel Imam's petition states that in April 2026, the trial court had directed the prison superintendent to consider this request. The then-superintendent had granted permission for the research material to be provided to Sharjeel on a pen drive; however, the superintendent was subsequently transferred, and his successor refused to grant the permission.

Sharjeel Imam was arrested from Bihar in 2020. It is noteworthy that at least 53 people lost their lives and a large number of people were injured during the Delhi riots.

Imam enrolled as a doctoral scholar in Modern History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.