The case pertains to a confrontation with police and authorities during an anti-encroachment drive near the mosque in the Turkman Gate area
NEW DELHI – A Tees Hazari court in the national capital has granted bail to six people accused in the stone-pelting incident during a demolition exercise near the Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque in Delhi’s Turkman Gate area last month.
Finding merits in the bail applications, Additional Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh this week granted relief to Mohammad Faiz, Mohammad Affan, Mohammed Imran, Shahzad, Mohammad Imran, and Mohammad Faheem on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of like amount each.
“Balancing the gravity of the allegations with the fundamental right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and keeping in view the overall facts and circumstances of the case, in particular their respective ages, clean antecedents, the period of incarceration, on grounds of parity with the co-accused released on bail and non-requirement for the purpose of investigation, I find merits in the bail application,” said the judge in an order dated February 25,” the Judge Singh’s order read.
Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava appeared for the state. Advocates M Asad Baig, Manjeet Saini and others appeared for the accused.
The court noted that the video presented by the prosecution did not conclusively establish the identity of the accused, as their faces were not distinctly discernible, and a forensic investigation to ascertain their identity was still underway.
The court called for a “careful scrutiny of the material” linking the accused to the incident, considering they were not apprehended from the scene of violence but arrested subsequently during the course of investigation.
“Mere presence in a gathering, without clear material demonstrating active participation or overt acts, cannot justify continued incarceration at the pre-trial stage. At this juncture, the material does not conclusively establish such individual attribution,” the judge observed.
Earlier, on February 17, the court granted bail to 12 accused in the case. The court affirmed the principle of parity in the present case, noting that there was no “distinguishing circumstance” from the earlier case, as it also pertained to similar accusations of unlawful assembly and dissemination of material on social media.
“The object of bail is to secure the presence of the accused during trial,” the court said, as it noted that there was no need to conduct a detailed examination of evidence or to record findings on the merits of the case at this stage.
“Bail cannot be refused merely because the offence alleged carries a severe punishment,” it observed.
The court, as bail conditions, directed that the accused keep their phones on all the time with location services enabled, do not circulate any content relating to the incident, do not participate in any activities that disturb public order, and do not flee or tamper with evidence.
