The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked a trial court to ensure that if the accused who allegedly pointed a gun at a police head constable during the recent communal violence in northeast Delhi files a bail plea, it is heard within two days.
The accused had filed the bail plea in the high court on the ground that jails were overcrowded and he was apprehensive of catching coronavirus.
Following the high court's direction, the counsel for the accused, Shahrukh Pathan, withdrew the bail application and sought liberty to approach the sessions court with the bail plea.
Justice Anu Malhotra, who conducted the hearing through video conferencing, said the application is dismissed as withdrawn and granted liberty to the accused to approach the sessions court.
While answering the court's query, advocates Asghar Khan and Abdul Tahir Khan, representing Pathan, said that a bail application was earlier filed before the sessions court but it was not taken up for hearing on the ground that there is no urgency in the matter.
To this, the high court said, It is considered appropriate in the circumstances to direct the District and Sessions Judge, North-East to ensure that the application, if any, filed by the applicant seeking grant of bail in...is taken up for hearing within a period of two days of it being filed.
More From This Section
Pathan's counsel had sought bail for the accused contending that there was a delay of two days in lodging of the FIR. The counsel said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not safe to remain in jail as it is not possible to maintain social distancing due to overcrowding and sought that he be released on bail.
The accused sought bail saying he has been languishing in jail for over two months now.
Pathan, 23, whose picture showing him pointing a gun at unarmed Delhi Police head constable Deepak Dahia during the communal riots went viral on social media, was arrested on March 3 from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district. He is lodged in a jail here.
The police has registered a case against him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act.
The police said it recovered the pistol, which Pathan allegedly pointed at the police official during the communal violence, from his house.
After opening fire, he kept the pistol at home and fled from the city in a car, the police said.
In the viral video, Pathan, a resident of northeast Delhi's Ghonda, could be seen pointing his pistol at the policeman on the Jaffrabad-Maujpur road on February 24.
The police said that after seeing himself on news channels following the incident, Pathan changed his clothes and fled to Punjab. He then moved to Bareilly in UP before hiding at a friend's house in Shamli in the state.
In February, clashes broke out in northeast Delhi between the groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
