North East Delhi riots: Delhi HC seeks response of police on Shahrukh Pathan’s plea seeking regular bail

New Delhi [India], February 29 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice on the bail plea filed by Shahrukh Pathan to the Delhi Police. He is accused of pointing a gun at a policeman in the Jafrabad area during riots in February 2020.

Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to Delhi police on the plea and listed the matter for hearing on April 16.

The High Court has also sought a status report of the prosecution proceedings in the case against Pathan.

It has been stated that the trial has been delayed and only two out of ninety witnesses have been examined. He has been in custody for four years.

On December 14, 2023, Karkardooma Court dismissed the bail plea of Shahrukh Pathan after considering his conduct in custody and prior to his arrest.

Advocate Khalid Akhtar appeared for Shahrukh Pathan. He argued that the accused is seeking bail on the grounds of a delay in trial.

It was submitted before the trial court in December 2023 that the accused has been in custody for the last three years and nine months. Only two prosecution witnesses have been examined till now.

One charge sheet and three supplementary charge sheets have been filed. There are 90 prosecution witnesses and only two of them have been examined completely. For some time, the matter was heard on a daily basis.

Defence counsel had further submitted that the court had ordered a day-to-day trial on March 7, 2023; the court had fixed an 8th date for the hearing but still trial has not started.

On the other hand, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Anuj Handa for Delhi Police had opposed the bail plea. He submitted that the accused’s conduct in jail was not good, and he also met the culprits of the Red Fort bomb blast in jail.

It was also argued that the accused was summoned by the jail authorities multiple times for his conduct and a mobile phone was also recovered from him. He also assaulted other prisoners in the jail.

The defence counsel rebutted and said that the maximum sentence is 10 years. The case was not delayed because of the accused. If other accused are not being produced, is this my fault? Can I be put in prison for this reason?