A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to two persons in a case related to the north-east Delhi riots while casting doubts on the credibility of the two police witnesses in the matter, Times of India reported.
Additional sessions judge Vinod Yadav granted relief to Mohd Shoaib and Shahrukh on furnishing a bail bond in the case of alleged vandalism and torching of a shop by a riotous mob in Gokalpuri area.
The court noted that the prosecution was opposing both the bail pleas on the strength of their categorical identification by beat officers – constable Vipin and head constable Hari Babu in their recorded statements. Their identification was hardly of any consequence, it said, adding that even though they were posted as beat officers in the area at the relevant time of the incident, they waited till April to name the accused when they had categorically seen and identified them allegedly indulging in riots on February 25, 2020.
“Being police officials, what stopped them from reporting the matter then and there in the police station or to bring the same in the knowledge of higher police officers. This cast a serious doubt on the credibility of two police witnesses,” the court said in its order.
It further said that the CCTV footage relied upon by the police in the case pertained to February 24, 2020, whereas the incident took place the next day. “No CCTV/video footage of February 25, 2020, (date of the incident) has been placed on record by the investigating agency.
During the hearing, advocate Salim Malik, appearing for the accused, claimed they have been falsely implicated in the matter and were mere ‘bonafide bystanders’.
According to Clarion India, the granting of bail to riot accused is the result of the efforts of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani. He has taken up the cases of Muslims who have wrongly been implicated by the Delhi police in riot cases. So far bails have been obtained in 161 cases. Maulana Madani has also reconstructed houses for the Delhi riots victims.
Anti- Muslim violence had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 last year leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
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Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.
