The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, 14 September, granted bail to Shanawaz and Mohd Ayyub and denied bail to two others, Sadiq and Irshad Ali, in connection with the murder of Head Constable Ratan Lal during the Northeast Delhi Riots of 2020, LiveLaw reported.
After the reservation of the order last month, Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the order on Tuesday. Out of the 11 bail applications in the matter, the court has cleared nine.
Earlier this month, the Court had granted to bail to five accused in the case – Mohd. Arif, Shadab Ahmad, Furkan, Suvaleen and Tabassum – and upheld that "bail jurisprudence attempts to bridge the gap between the personal liberty of an accused and ensuring social security remains intact."
What the Court Had Said
While granting bail to the co-accused in the case, the order had noted that Section 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) read in tandem with Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) could not be applied on the grounds of “vague evidence and general allegations," LiveLaw reported.
It read, "It is the Constitutional duty of the Court to ensure that there is no arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty in the face of excess of State power. Bail is the rule and jail is the exception, and Courts must exercise their jurisdiction to uphold the tenets of personal liberty, subject to rightful regulation of the same by validly enacted legislation."
The order had also upheld, that it is the "duty of the Courts to ensure that the law does not become a tool for targeted harassment."
Further, the court elucidated that the court must consider the matter of bail on grounds that there is no evidence suggesting that every member of an unlawful assembly comes within an umbrella of assumed guilt.
"When there is a crowd involved, at the juncture of grant or denial of bail, the Court must hesitate before arriving at the conclusion that every member of the unlawful assembly inhabits a common intention to accomplish the unlawful common object," the order stated.
Background
Head constable Ratan Lal was reportedly attacked by a mob at the Chand Bagh protest site on Wazirabad Road on the afternoon of 24 February, 2020, following which he was rushed to GTB Hospital but was announced dead on arrival. A DCP had suffered head injuries.
The FIR was registered on the statement of a constable, who was reportedly on duty, along with other personnel in the area.
The violence in northeast Delhi last month claimed 53 lives and left over 200 injured. The riots were triggered by clashes between those protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act and those supporting it.
(With inputs from LiveLaw)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)