HC rejects bail plea of Delhi violence accused Shahrukh Pathan

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed the bail plea filed by Shahrukh Pathan, the man who allegedly opened fire at police personnel in February 2020 during violence in the capital's northeast area.

A single-judge bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait said that the video clipping and pictures played before this Court have shaken the conscience of this Court how petitioner could take law and order in his hands.

"Pertinently, the allegations leveled against the petitioner in the present case is that in the unfortunate incident of riots which occurred on 24.02.2020 at the road between Jaffrabad Metro Station and Maujpur Chowk amongst people of different communities, petitioner was a party to the huge crowd which had unauthorizedly gathered and pelted stones, petrol bombs and fired gun/pistol shots," the Court said.

"The role attributed to the petitioner is not confined to participation in the mob of rioters but of heading the large crowd, holding a pistol in hand and releasing open fire shots. The video clipping and pictures played before this Court have shaken the conscience of this Court how petitioner could take law and order in his hands. Whether or not petitioner had the intention to kill the complainant or any person present in the public with his open air pistol shots, but it is hard to believe that he had no knowledge that his act may harm anyone present at the spot, "The Court said.

"Moreover, it is not the case of the petitioner that he was not involved in the alleged incident. In the opinion of this Court, the learned trial court has rightly held that the petitioner is alleged to have participated in riots and his picture speaks a volume about his involvement," the Court said.

The Court added that "Keeping in mind the gravity of the offense committed by the petitioner as also the facts of the present case, I am not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner."

According to police, after the incident in February, Pathan initially kept roaming around in the national capital before slipping away to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh's Shamli, from where he was arrested later by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police. During the investigation, Pathan revealed that the car he used belonged to his uncle's son and that he had left the car in a garage in Haryana after it broke down.

In February, clashes broke out in the northeast area of Delhi between the groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act, which led to the deaths of at least 53 people.

( With inputs from ANI )