Junaid Khan Lynching Case: P&H HC Grants Bail To Main Accused [Read Order]

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted bail to Naresh Kumar, the main accused in the case concerning the brutal lynching of a 16-year-old boy, Junaid Khan, in June last year.

Justice Daya Chaudhary granted him bail after noting that Naresh has been behind bars for more than a year and that the proceedings in the case have already been stayed by the Supreme Court.

The court also weighed in on the fact that Naresh’s co-accused, Rameshwar Dass aka Rameshwar Dayal has been released on regular bail by the high court. It, therefore, granted  him interim bail, till the decision of the Apex Court on the petition pending before it is rendered, clarifying,

“It is also made clear that the interim bail has been granted till the decision of SLP by Hon'ble the Apex Court and on decision of SLP, the petitioner has to surrender before the concerned authorities and thereafter, he is at liberty to move an application for regular bail.”

Junaid, who had boarded a Mathura-bound train from Delhi, was allegedly stabbed to death while he was returning home after shopping for Eid in Delhi in June, 2017.The incident had turned into religious slurs and had triggered a mob attack on deceased boy’s brother and two cousins between Okhla and Asoti in Haryana.

The police had booked Naresh as one of the main accused and five others for several offences including murder, culpable homicide and uttering of words hurting religious feelings of a person.

The trial was going on before a court in Faridabad. However, the Supreme Court had, in March this year, stayed the trial on a plea filed by Junaid’s father, Jalaludeen, who had sought CBI Investigation in the case. He has approached the court against the November 27, 2017 order of Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing his petition seeking CBI investigation in to the matter.

He alleges that the investigating agency has carried out a seemingly casual and shoddy investigation. He further points out that the investigating agency failed to charge the accused under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on the basis of religion etc.), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code.

“It is patently clear from reading of the challan papers that the two above mentioned offences and conspiracy to commit the said and the other offences were unerringly disclosed even by the motivated investigation. The Investigating Agency deliberately acted with undue haste because the crime had attracted huge nationwide outcry. The investigation was so managed as to minimize the damage to the marauders and to ensure that most of them are released on bail and face no serious trial at all,” he submits.

Read the Order Here
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