New Delhi, Mar 6 A Delhi court has granted bail to the last accused person kept in judicial custody in connection with a stone-pelting incident during a demolition exercise near the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque in Turkman Gate in January.
Additional Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh granted bail to Shahnawaz Alam, who was the last accused person to be released from judicial custody, on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of like amount.
In an order dated February 28, the court granted bail to Shahnawaz based on the principle of parity of bail, as there were no distinguishing circumstances between his case and that of the other 19 accused persons in the incident who had been granted bail earlier in February.
"It is also not disputed that similarly placed co-accused persons have already been granted bail after detailed consideration of the applicability of Section 109(1) BNS (attempt to murder), allegations pertaining to unlawful assembly, and the alleged dissemination of material through WhatsApp groups,” the court said.
The court noted that the video evidence placed on record by the prosecution did not conclusively establish the identity of the accused as his face was not distinctly discernible, and a forensic examination to ascertain his identity was still underway.
It also observed that the identification by injured police officials could not be fully relied upon at this stage and would require evidentiary evaluation during trial.
The court said mere presence in a gathering, without material showing active participation or overt acts, could not justify continued pre-trial incarceration. It added that bail cannot be denied merely because the alleged offence carries severe punishment and that pre-trial detention should not become punitive.
Noting that the accused was a local resident, the investigation was complete and there was little likelihood of evidence tampering, the court granted bail to the accused with conditions including keeping his phone switched on with location services enabled and refraining from activities that could disturb public order.
On February 25, the court granted bail to 6 accused persons in the case. Prior to that on February 17, the court granted bail to 12 accused in the case. The first case of bail being granted was noted on January 24, when a separate sessions court granted bail to Ubaidullah after the first bail order of January 20 was set aside and sent back to the sessions court by the Delhi High Court.
The case pertains to a confrontation with police and authorities during an anti-encroachment drive near the mosque in the Ramlila Maidan area on the intervening night of January 6 and 7. Twenty people had been arrested in connection to the case.
The police said rumours were spread on social media that the mosque opposite Turkman Gate was being demolished, prompting people to gather at the spot.
It has been alleged that around 150-200 people hurled stones and glass bottles at the police and MCD personnel, injuring six policemen, including the area's station house officer.
