CAA Protests: Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad Moves Sessions Court For Bail [Read Application]

Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who was arrested by Daryaganj police on December 21, 2019 for allegedly inciting violence during anti-CAA protests, has moved a bail application before the District and Sessions Judge (Central), in Tis Hazari. The application moved through his lawyer Mehmood Pracha, seeks regular bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

At the very outset, the application states that Azad was wrongly arrested and has been implicated maliciously in the FIR which has been registered for offences including rioting with deadly weapons, assaulting public servant and deterring them from discharging their duties, creating mischief with explosive substances, unlawful assembly and criminal conspiracy amongst others.

The application further relies on Azad's clean past to state that he has no previous criminal record, is a law abiding citizen and that no motive has been attributed for the accused having committed the alleged offences.

 "All charges have been added mechanically", contests the applicant.

Additionally, the bail granted on January 9 to the 15 protesters accused of causing violence during the same protest has been referred to. In this light, it has been contested that no aggravated role has been attributed to Azad specifically in the FIR and that he, on the contrary, had been "demonstrably making efforts to maintain peace".

The charge of unlawful assembly has also been contested as the police never proclaimed any over the peaceful protesters to be in an unlawful assembly. No common object or motive has been made out to justify the charge. With regard to the charge of causing mischief with explosives, it has been submitted that no reason for the same was recorded, and the requirement to produce details for the same were incumbent upon the authorities. Azad goes on to allege that the police's version of events and the evidence on record together does not justify the requirements for the said charges to be made out.

Lastly, the Duty Metropolitan Magistrate's order denying bail on December 21 itself has been challenged as failing to appreciate the law and facts of the case. The action of the State which failed to comply with Supreme Court guidelines in Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar, which require police authorities to demonstrate compliance with Sections 41 and 42 of CrPC, rendered the continued detention of Azad illegal. This was not appreciated by the Duty MM, who "erroneously" held that the said guidelines were not applicable here, urges Pracha, and is sufficient to challenge the order.

In conclusion, the petition is based on grounds that Azad has been falsely implicated, the Duty MM failed to appreciate the contentions raised during the hearing, the charges in the FIR are vague and based on conjecture, and no recovery has been made from him which renders the continued detention unwarranted.

It has also been prayed to grant Azad interim bail during the pendency of the application before the court. The application is likely to be listed tomorrow.

Last week, Tis Hazari Court had directed Tihar jail authorities to provide medical treatment at AIIMS to Azad for his medical condition, . The Court had also expressed displeasure at the jail authorities for not giving him required treatment despite being aware of his illness.

Click here to download the Petition