Delhi riots: Court dismisses Shahrukh Pathan's pleas who pointed gun at cop

A Delhi court has dismissed two interim bail applications of Shahrukh Pathan, whose picture showing him pointing a gun at an unarmed Delhi Police head constable during the communal riots, went viral on social media.

The first interim bail application was rejected on Monday in a case in which he was arrested for allegedly brandishing a gun and firing at Head Constable Deepak Dahiya.

The second plea was dismissed in a case related to alleged gunshot injury received by one Rohit Shukla during the communal violence in Jafrabad area on February 24.

In both the cases, the court questioned the conduct of Pathan and said the manner in which he had absconded after the incident and was arrested later on, suggested he was a flight risk

In the first case, Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat said that the gravity of the matter was sufficient to deny any benefit of interim bail to the accused.

"In the instant case, when the clashes happened on February 24, 2020 at near Jafrabad metro station, Delhi, and heavy stone pelting and firing occurred, as per prosecution, the applicant/accused Shahrukh Pathan was caught brandishing a pistol with the temerity of firing and pointing it at police personnel Head Constable Deepak Dahiya, who was deputed on that day for law and order arrangements.

The accused is alleged to have participated in the riots and has been duly identified Thus, the gravity in the present case is sufficient to deny any benefit of interim bail to the accused, the court said in its order passed on November 9.

Further, the court said "going by the conduct of the accused and the manner in which he absconded and was arrested later on, suggests that he is a flight risk."

In the second case, it said Pathan was arrested in a riots case and the guidelines of the High Powered Committee of the Delhi High Court regarding interim bail were not applicable to such cases.

It said his call detail record location showed that he was present at the spot on the day of the incident and there was a footage showing him there.

A report regarding conduct of accused from Jail Superintendent was filed, as per which, the conduct of accused in Jail is unsatisfactory, for using abusive language and misbehaving with security personnel in jail on September 24, 2020.

Even the conduct of the accused or how he had absconded and was arrested on secret information from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, later on in another case (where he fired and pointed his gun at policeman), is also relevant as it suggests that he is a flight risk, the court said in its order passed on Tuesday.

Pathan had sought interim bail in both the cases for taking care of his mother who has been asked to undergo surgical operation after sustaining injuries on her back and spinal cord.

He had also sought interim relief saying his presence was required to attend to his father who needed to undergo surgery on his right knee.

The court said in both the orders that the reply filed by the police suggested there was no emergency for the surgery of the right knee of his father.

It further said Pathan's father and the relatives can take care of his mother at this time.

It noted that Pathan's father was earlier convicted in a case related to possession of narcotics.

During the hearing in both the cases, advocates Asghar Khan, Tariq Nasir and Sunil Mehta, appearing for the accused, argued that he had no intention to harm anybody.

Special Public Prosecutor Jinendra Jain, appearing for the police, opposed the bail plea saying Pathan had allegedly fired at Dahiya with an intention to kill him aiming at his head.

The public prosecutor further argued that there was nothing on record to show that Pathan was the financial strength of the family.

Special Public Prosecutor Devender Kumar Bhatia had said Pathan had allegedly fired at Dahiya with an intention to kill him aiming at his head.

He had further argued that the accused had also voluntarily disclosed about his involvement in the case and his conduct of allegedly firing on a police official in uniform in full public view established his brazen and a desperate criminal bent of mind.

Bhatia also claimed that he had tried to mislead the police during investigation of the case.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.