Snehal Upadhyay–
Published on: September 4, 2021, at 09:40 IST
The Constitutional Bench of Delhi High Court granted Bail to five people who were accused of killing a Delhi Police head constable Ratan Lal during the Riots which were held in Delhi in February 2020.
Justice Subramonium Prasad observed that “It is to be noted that the right to protest and express dissent is a right which occupies a fundamental stature in a democratic polity, and therefore, the sole act of protesting should not be employed as a weapon to justify the incarceration of those who are exercising this right.”
The five accused including Mohd Arif, Shadab Ahmad, Furkan, Suvaleen and Tabassum were involved in the Delhi Riots and they had also attacked residents as well as the police authorities.
The Court granted Bail on the ground that there was no direct evidence available that could have shown their participation in the Riots.
The Court said, “The contention of the prosecution that a few women wearing burqas have been caught assaulting police officials in the Vishal Chaudhary video does not have any weight at this juncture because the petitioner cannot be identified in the video.”
The Bench also observed that while discussing the bail pleas “The applicability of Section 149 IPC, specifically read with Section 302, cannot be done based on vague evidence and general allegations. When there is a crowd involved, at the juncture of grant or denial of bail, the Court must hesitate before concluding that every member of the unlawful assembly inhibits a common intention to accomplish the unlawful common object. There cannot be an umbrella assumption of guilt on behalf of every accused by the Court.”
The Bench further noted that the five accused were imprisoned for 16 months and directed the accused to report to the police station every Tuesday and Thursday and will not change their address and if they do so they have to inform the police regarding it.
Also Read: Much needed Police Reforms in India