New Delhi, Sept. 28 -- The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of Tihar Jail authorities on a plea by former JNU student Sharjeel Imam, an accused in the 2020 North-East Delhi riots case, seeking access to research material stored on a pen drive to facilitate completion of his PhD while in custody.

Justice Sanjeev Narula directed the jail authorities to place their response on record by way of a status report.

Advocate Ahmad Ibrahim, appearing for Imam, submitted that Imam has remained in custody since January 2020 and was in the final year of his PhD when he was arrested. He said the synopsis of Imam's doctoral research has been approved by the UGC as well as Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The counsel sought permission for Im...