‘No violation of bail’, HC upholds Ishrat’s relief in NE riots case

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Friday declined to tinker with a trial court order granting bail to former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan in the “larger conspiracy” case related to the Feb 2020 riots in northeast Delhi.

“A considerable period of more than four years has passed since the impugned order, and there is no allegation that the respondent has in any manner violated the terms of the bail... We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order. The appeal is accordingly dismissed,” a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja observed, rejecting Delhi Police’s appeal challenging the trial court’s order dated March 14, 2022.

Jahan, along with Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and several others, has been booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for being the “masterminds” behind the riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The violence erupted during the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens.

Police had argued that the bail was against the law as it failed to consider the gravity of the offence and the evidence suggesting that the violence erupted pursuant to a conspiracy hatched by her and the co-accused. “The trial court lost sight of the fact that the respondent, being ‘closely connected’ with the other conspirators, played a very active role in the entire conspiracy... of organising the so-called protest at the protest site, which resulted in riots, killing numerous people, besides injuries and destruction of property.”

The trial court had said the role of Jahan, on prima facie consideration, persuaded it to grant her the relief. As per the chargesheet or the statement of witnesses, Jahan was neither the one who “created the idea of chakka-jam” nor was she a member of any of the incriminating WhatsApp groups or organisations, it pointed out. It had been said she was involved in the protest site at Khureji, which was not located in the riot area, and her name didn’t crop up in the flurry of calls or any CCTV footage or in any conspiratorial meetings.