New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Delhi Police on a plea filed by former councillor and Delhi riots accused Tahir Hussain seeking interim bail to campaign for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls.
A bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah heard the submissions made by the counsel representing Hussain and posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday.
Inciting a mob during Delhi riots was only allegation against Hussain, counsel told bench
Senior advocate Siddharth Aggarwal, who appeared for Hussain, told the bench that Hussain, who was arrested in the case on March 16, 2020, was in custody for over four years and the only allegation against him is inciting a mob during the Delhi riots in 2020.
The bench was further informed by Hussain’s lawyer that the former councillor faced 11 cases and has been granted bail in nine cases. Charges were framed after three years of custody of Hussain and out of 115 witnesses cited by the prosecution, only 22 have been examined, the counsel added.
What did the apex court say?
The bench, which also asked Hussain’s counsel that why he was pressing for interim bail and not the regular bail, asked the counsel representing the Delhi police to come prepared and argue the matter on the next date of hearing.
“Suppose tentatively if we feel persuaded that he makes out a case for regular bail, then why not we should give at least interim bail,” the bench said and added, “If we are satisfied at this stage on merits that some case is made out then why not interim (bail)? He is in jail for 4 years 10 months. He is only an instigator and very same allegation of instigation is in nine cases in which he has been granted bail. You can’t shut your eyes to that.”
High Court earlier granted Hussain custody parole to file his nomination
The Delhi High Court earlier dismissed his plea seeking interim bail from January 14 to February 9 to contest the upcoming Delhi assembly polls. It, however, granted him custody parole to file his nomination for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls.
Hussain, a former municipal councillor from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is contesting the assembly elections from Delhi’s Mustafabad assembly constituency as an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Party candidate.
