Delhi court dismisses accused's bail plea in connection with north-east violence case

A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed a bail application of an accused Irshad Ali in connection with a north-east violence case in which head constable Ratan Lal died.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav said that the nature of allegations against the applicant Irshad Ali is "very serious".

"The public witness(es) in the matter are residents of the same locality and the possibility of applicant threatening or intimidating them, if released on bail at this stage cannot be ruled out," the court said, adding that the bail applications of several co-accused persons namely Mohammed Ibrahim, Badrul Hasan, Mohammed Arif, Shadab Ahmad, Mohammed Saleem Khan and Mohammed Furkan, who have been assigned similar roles in the matter have already been dismissed by this court vide various orders.

"Taking into account the gravity of the offence and role assigned to the applicant, even his interim bail applications stood dismissed twice by this court", the court said.

"Considering the facts and circumstances of the case in totality, nature of allegations against the applicant and gravity of the offence, I do not find it to be a fit case for grant of bail to the applicant. The bail application is accordingly dismissed," the court said.

Amit Prasad, Special Public Prosecutor for the State, and accused Irshad Ali was represented by Nasir Ali and Salim Malik.

"It is prima facie evident that at or around the commission of the crime, i.e the murder HC Rattan Lal, there was nobody present at the roof of Mohan Nursing Home," the court said.

It added that the footage of a news channel does not appear to be contemporaneous to the commission of the crime in this case and it is, however, a prima facie opinion which shall be ascertained during the course of the trial.

"It is common knowledge that the dreary days of February 24, 2020 and February 25, 2020 saw parts of North-East Delhi gripped by a communal frenzy, reminiscent of carnage during the days of partition. Soon, the riots spread like wildfire across the smoke-grey skyline of Capital, engulfing new areas and snuffing out more and more innocent lives. The intensity and magnitude of the riots can be gathered from the fact that 53 innocent lives were lost and a lot of public and private property was damaged/vandalized and looted and several vehicles, houses and business establishments were set on fire," the court said.

"These riots were part of large scale conspiracy hatched at various levels all over Delhi in the aftermath of the enactment of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Registration of Citizens (NRC) and the same did not take place spontaneously," the court said.

According to the prosecution, a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (in short was going on at the service road, main Wazirabad road, near 25 foota road, Chand Bagh, Delhi) and on February 24 2020, the protest turned violent.

The prosecution said that the violent protesters started beating people as well as police personnel, and protesters also attacked upon DCP Shahdara, ACP Gokulpuri, and Head Constable Rattan Lal due to which they fell on the road and sustained grievous injuries and started bleeding.

The Prosecution further stated that the mob burnt government vehicles as well as private vehicles parked at the roadside. In order to control further damage to public property, the reserve forces arrived at the spot and after continuous confrontation for a couple of hours, the police were able to contain the violent mob. All the injured persons were taken to hospital, where it was found that Head Constable Rattan Lal had already died due to injuries sustained and DCP Shahdara was unconscious and had sustained head injuries.

( With inputs from ANI )