New Delhi, Jan 20 A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to one of the accused in the stone-pelting incident during a demolition exercise near Faiz-e-Elahi mosque in Turkman Gate early this month.
Additional Sessions Judge Joginder Prakash Nahar granted bail to Ubedullah, a street vendor, on a bond of Rs. 25,000 with one surety of the like amount.
The prosecution largely relied on CCTV footage and the disclosure of a co-accused, alleging that Ubedullah was part of a violent crowd that obstructed police, indulged in stone-pelting and caused damage to public property.
M K Malik and A F Faizi, the counsel for the accused, emphasised that the First Information Report (FIR) names several other persons but not Ubedullah, and that the entire case against him is "a 'fishing expedition' premised on a single 'omnibus' identifying witness" and "prejudicial reliance on CCTV footage which does not show any overt act by him".
Furthermore, they argued that being a resident of the area, the CCTV footage only captured Ubedullah emerging from his house to search for his minor sister and did not confirm his involvement in the surrounding violence.
"It is noted that the accused herein is a resident of Turkman Gate, Delhi. It is submitted on behalf of the accused that the residence of the accused is hardly 50 metres away from the place of the incident, and he has not committed any act of offence in the present case. Hence it is noted that it is natural for the accused to be present near his house," said the court order dated January 20.
The court noted that the accused was the sole breadwinner of his family and is responsible as a caretaker for his paralysed father. The accused was also noted to have no prior criminal record.
The defence counsel reassured the court that the accused is not a flight risk and cannot tamper with evidence, as all material evidence is in police custody and the key witnesses are police officials "who cannot be influenced by a young street vendor of modest means".
The court granted bail to Ubedullah on the conditions that he will cooperate with the investigation, appear for trial when called, not tamper with evidence, not pose a flight risk and will not attempt to influence any witnesses.
Till date, 18 accused have been arrested in connection with the violence near Turkman Gate. On January 14, a separate magisterial court had denied bail to five accused.
The case pertains to violence during an anti-encroachment drive near the mosque in the Ramlila Maidan area on the intervening night of January 6 and 7.
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.
They said 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.
New Delhi, Jan 14 A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed the bail pleas of five men accused in the stone-pelting incident near Faiz-e-Elahi mosque in Turkman Gate, saying the violence was not a simple case of assault but "an attack on the administration".
Judicial Magistrate Sayesha Chadha rejected the bail applications of Kashif, Kaif, Adnan, Aarib, and Sameer, trashing the defence arguments of false implication and pre-FIR arrests.
The court said, "The relentless pelting of stones, damage to government property and the injury sustained by the police officials, while the discharge of their official duties is indeed not a simpliciter case of assault but an attack on the administration." Counsel for the accused argued they were "not known to each other and do not have any previous involvements", claiming "the riot-like situation" was a "police failure" and that they have been falsely implicated.
The defence counsel further contended arrests occurred before the registration of FIR and Section 109(1) (attempt to murder) of the BNS was wrongly invoked to make the case triable in sessions court.
In its order, the court highlighted that the CCTV footage identified Kashif and Kaif, the call detail records placed Aarib at the scene of incident, and provocative recordings were recovered from Adnan and Sameer's phones.
"The recordings were heard in open court, as per which, accused persons can be heard instigating the fellow members on the WhatsApp group to crowd near the Faiz-e-Elahi Masjid in order to stop the demolition.
"The investigating officer (IO) had also mentioned that the provocative messages were circulated by the accused persons to various others in order to instigate the aforesaid riots," the court said.
It said the issue whether offence of attempt to murder had been wrongly invoked was a matter of trial but the medico legal cases indicated injuries on the vital body parts of the police officials.
Citing the case diary, the court said the arguments regarding the pre-mature arrest did not hold good.
It said, "Hence, considering the seriousness of allegations, stage of investigation...the court deems it apposite to dismiss the bail applications of the accused persons."
An anti-encroachment drive near the mosque in the Ramlila Maidan area on the intervening night of January 6 and 7 had turned violent.
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.
They said 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.
