Delhi riots: HC asks accused to move bail plea after filing of charge sheet in UAPA case
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) student Asif Iqbal Tanha, arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in a case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February, to approach a trial court for bail after the filing of the charge sheet.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru also directed the trial court that if a bail plea is filed, it should consider and dispose it of expeditiously, preferably within two weeks from the filing.
The high court asked the trial court, which has earlier dismissed Tanha's bail plea, to consider the bail application fresh.
The high court's order came after Delhi Police informed it that the agency was going to file a charge sheet in the case on or before September 17.
Later in the day, however, the police filed the charge sheet before the trial court in the case.
The high court had earlier said that considering the charge sheet is filed in the case on or before September 17, it does not consider it apposite to entertain the petition of the accused seeking bail Once the charge sheet is filed in the case, the accused can agitate the bail before the trial court, it said.
Tanha, a 24-year old student who was arrested on May 19 and is in judicial custody since May 27, has challenged a trial court's order dismissing his bail plea in the case.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju and advocate Rajat Nair, representing the police, said they have the instructions that the charge sheet will be filed in the case before a trial court on or before September 17.
A trial court had on August 13 granted extension till September 17 to the police to complete investigation against the persons booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case.
While dismissing the bail plea, the trial court had said the statements of the protected witnesses in the case reflected the role of many accused persons including accused Tanha regarding the protest sites and how everything was being planned.
Tanha's lawyer had claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case and had argued that invocation of UAPA against Tanha was bad in law as there was no unlawful association or terrorist organisation with which he was associated.
Pinjra Tod members and JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal; JNU student Sharjeel Imam; Jamia Millia Islamia students Asif Iqbal Tanha and Gulfisha Khatoon; former Congress Councillor Ishrat Jahan; Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider; President of Jamia Alumni Association Shifa-Ur-Rehman; suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain; activist Khalid Saifi, and former student leader Umar Khalid have been booked under the anti-terror law in the case.
The communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.