NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to 76 foreign nationals from eight countries who were chargesheeted for attending Markaz at Nizamuddin here by allegedly violating visa conditions, indulging in missionary activities illegally and violating government guidelines, issued in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur granted the relief to the foreigners on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. The accused will file their plea bargaining applications on Friday, said advocate Ashima Mandla, appearing for some of the foreign nationals. Under plea bargaining, the accused plead guilty to the offence praying for a lesser punishment.
The Criminal Procedure of Code allows plea bargaining for cases where the maximum punishment is imprisonment for seven years, where offences don’t affect the socio-economic conditions of the society and when the offences are not committed against a woman or a child below 14 years.
During the hearing, all the foreign nationals were produced before the court through video conferencing. The foreigners belong to Mali, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Djibouti, Tanzania, South Africa and Myanmar, said advocates Mandakini Singh, Fahim Khan and Ahmad Khan, appearing for the accused.