2020 Delhi Riots: Delhi Court Denies Bail Plea Of Man Who Aimed Gun At Cop

A Delhi Court on Monday denied Shahrukh Pathan’s bail plea, who had pointed a gun at a Delhi Police chief constable during the 2020 Delhi riots.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat was hearing Pathan’s bail plea, which was moved in October last year.

It was scheduled for a hearing after Pathan moved an application last month to press his bail plea “in view of the threats” he faced in prison.

“This court sees no reason to grant bail to either the applicant or the accused. As a result, the bail application is dismissed,” the judge ruled.

Pathan’s bail petition had previously been denied by both the present court and the Delhi High Court, and the court had also framed charges against him and others for various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including rioting and attempt to murder, as well as under the provisions of the Arms Act.

Rejecting Pathan’s arguments concerning “threats from jail officials,” the court stated that the overwhelming number of applications on the same did not inspire confidence, and the allegations of harassment and torture were “prima facie” for getting release.

None of the accused had contested the order on the charges passed in December 2021, and the grounds mentioned in the bail application, such as alleged discrepancies in witness or interview statements, were dealt with in detail in the earlier orders on bail and charges, the court stated.

It stated that a review of the whole case file revealed that there was no delay in the trial due to the prosecution’s negligence after the charges were filed.

The court emphasized that it was mostly due to factors such as the co-accused persons “purposefully absenting themselves on court dates,” accused Kaleem Ahmed pleading guilty during the trial, and charges being prepared against one of the accused, Babu Wasim, who was later detained.

“It should be noted that the date has always been set at the discretion of the accused’s counsel, who, despite the court’s request for short dates, insisted by displaying his diary to argue that he does not have dates and that the date be given as per his diary,” the Court added.

The court stated that Pathan’s attitude in the jail, as evidenced in CCTV footage from two separate occurrences on January 30 and February 10, as well as the discovery of a cell phone from the accused inside the prison, was “completely unsatisfactory.”

According to the tape from January 30, Pathan left the Tihar Jail’s video-conferencing room and voluntarily entered a cell for two and a half hours without informing the authorities, and was seen “mingling and having lunch with co-inmates, including gangsters.”

Taking note of Pathan’s behaviour on February 10 as seen in CCTV footage shown in court, the judge stated that the accused was allegedly found outside his high-risk ward, where he mingled with “three other hardened prisoners or criminals,” and “from the shadow,” he could be seen intentionally beating up an undertrial prisoner and then bandaging him.

Pathan and others have been charged by the Jafrabad police station.