New Delhi, February 25 A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to six accused in the incident of stone-pelting during a demolition exercise near the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque in Turkman Gate last month.
Additional Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh granted relief to Mohammad Faiz, Mohammad Affan, Shazad, Shahzad, Mohammad Imran, and Mohammad Faheem on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 each.
During the hearing, lawyers M Asad Beig, M K Malik, and others who represented the accused pointed out that the accused were not clearly visible in the footage as part of the crowd, but rather in scattered areas near their respective homes.
They said that most of the accused live within 50-100 meters of the crime scene.
Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Shrivastava presented video evidence of one of the accused urging people to join the mob, and said the clip was "inciting".
However, the defence counsel questioned the authenticity of the video and whether the voice in the clip even belonged to their client or if it was just another forwarded message circulating.
The APP cited recent precedents from the Supreme Court to argue that the prosecution had no obligation to identify the accused in a "clear and unmistakable" manner in an unlawful assembly.
He argued that in unlawful assemblies, even if a particular individual cannot be discerned from the footage, it is immaterial which accused had what particular role to play once it is established that the offence has been committed while they were present at the crime scene.
The defence counsels also argued that the offences in the original FIR attract a sentence of less than five years, making the Arnesh Kumar guidelines applicable in this case. After more than a month of custody, they argued that keeping the accused further in jail would not serve any useful purpose.
The counsels stated that all the accused meet the three criteria for bail – they pose no risk of flight, tampering with evidence, or influencing witnesses – as they all come from modest backgrounds, and most of the evidence is already in police custody.
On February 17, the court granted bail to 12 accused in the case.
On January 24, a separate sessions court granted bail to Ubaidullah after the initial bail order of January 20 was overturned and sent back to the sessions court by the Delhi High Court.
The case pertains to the 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 that rumors were spread on social media that the mosque opposite Turkman Gate was being demolished, prompting people to gather at the spot.
It has been alleged that around 150-200 people threw stones and glass bottles at the police and MCD personnel, injuring six policemen, including the area's station house officer.