[Delhi Riots] 'Petitioner Is A Victim Of Riots; His House Was Damaged': Delhi HC Grants Bail To 65 Yr Old Man In Riots Case [Read Order]

The Bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait was hearing the plea filed by the petitioner under Section 439 Cr.P.C. read with Section 482 Cr.P.C. for grant of bail in case FIR No.233/2020, for the offences punishable under Sections 109/114/147/148/149/188/392/436 IPC, registered at Police Station Khajuri Khas, Delhi.

Arguments put forth by SPP

The SPP opposed the present petition by stating that four complainants from the other FIRs against the petitioner, namely, Nazruddin, Khateeb Ullah, Shakeb Khan and Estkhar, made initial complaints on 03.03.2020 and 05.03.2020 wherein the petitioner was not named.

Court's Observations

The Court observed that it is not in dispute that the incident is of 25.02.2020 and the petitioner herein is known to the complainants mentioned above, however, Khateeb Ullah mentioned that sons of the petitioner were involved, but he did not mention anything regarding petitioner's involvement.

The Court further observed, that in the first complaint made by Mohd. Munazir, which had culminated into FIR, mentioned that petitioner and his son were on the terrace of their house and he asked the petitioner to call on 100 number, however, he did not.

The Court took into account the fact that in the complaints initially made by complainant as well as in the FIR, no role was assigned to the petitioner, however, in supplementary statements petitioner and his sons have been named.

Notably, the Court remarked,

"That petitioner is 65 years old and is a victim of the riots. His house was also damaged by an unlawful assembly, to which he has also lodged a complaint dated 28.02.2020 vide DD-46B."

The Court further opined that there is no video clip or photograph on record against the petitioner whereby the petitioner was charge-sheeted in the present crime.

In view of above, the Court said that the petitioner deserves bail. Accordingly, he was directed to be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs.25,000/- with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Trial Court/Duty Judge.

Cases where Bail was granted to Riots Accused by Delhi HC

It may be noted that the Karkardooma Court (Delhi) on Wednesday (14^th October) granted bail to a man named Gulfam, who was arrested for allegedly vandalizing a Shiv Temple, situated at Gali No.5, Moonga Nagar, Delhi during the Delhi Riots (in February 2020), after noting that besides his own disclosure statement, prima facie there was nothing on record to connect him with the commission of the crime.

Further, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday (13^th October) granted bail to a man named Kasim, who was arrested for allegedly rioting during the Delhi Riots (in February 2020), after noting that petitioner was not seen in any of the 11 footages which were received from different social media.

Also, the Delhi High Court on Monday (12^th October) granted bail to a man named Mohammad Rehan, who was arrested for allegedly rioting during the Delhi Riots (in February 2020), after noting that there was no CCTV footage, video clip or photo to corroborate prosecution's claim.

Notably, while observing that "the witnesses seem to be planted one", the Delhi High Court on Wednesday (07th October) had granted bail to one Irshad Ahmed, an alleged associate of Tahir Hussain.