Delhi Riots: Delhi HC reserves order on Tasleem Ahmed's bail plea
His bail plea was opposed by the Delhi Police, contending that the delay could not be the sole ground for bail.
The division bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar reserved the order after hearing the arguments by both sides.
Advocate Mehmood Pracha appeared for petitioner Tasleem Ahmed, whose bail plea was dismissed by the trial court. The counsel submitted that the petitioner has been in custody for the last five years, and the trial has not yet commenced. Advocate Parcha also submitted that no adjournment was ever sought by the petitioner before the High Court.
He also submitted that despite orders from the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court, the matter is not being heard on a day-to-day basis. It was further argued that the arguments on the charge on behalf of the petitioner have been completed.
On the other hand, the Delhi Police opposed the bail plea, submitting that delay cannot be the sole ground for granting bail in UAPA cases. He referred to several judgments passed by the courts. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad appeared on behalf of the Delhi Police. He argued that there is an embargo on Section 43(D), which applies to the consideration of bail in UAPA cases. This proviso provides that bail cannot be granted without testing the material filed by the investigation agency against the accused.
During the arguments, SPP also referred to the notice on conspiracy to riot. He submitted that a conspiracy was hatched, and consequently, 53 people died.
On March 25, the High Court had asked the Delhi Police to file a note on the role of the accused, Tasleem Ahmed.
Earlier, Advocate Mehmood Pracha had submitted that Tasleem Ahmed's case was different from that of the other co-accused persons.
On February 22, 2024, the trial court dismissed his bail plea. Earlier, he had sought regular bail on the grounds of parity with three co-accused, namely Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha, in relation to a larger conspiracy surrounding the 2020 Delhi Riots. Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, and Asif Iqbal Tanha were granted regular bail by the Delhi High Court on June 15, 2021, after their appeals against the trial court order were allowed.
Special Judge Sameer Bajpai stated that the earlier bail application of accused Tasleem Ahmed was rejected by the predecessor court on March 16, 2022, in which the court held the allegations against the accused to be prima facie true. Hence, the embargo created by Section 43D of UA(P)A applies to the grant of bail to the accused, as well as the embargo contained in Section 437 Cr.P.C., the court held. (ANI)
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