Tablighi case: 60 Malaysians walk free for Rs 7,000 penalty

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday allowed 60 Malaysians to walk free after levying a penalty of Rs 7,000 each under the plea bargaining process. The foreign nationals had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid in Nizamuddin and were facing trial for violating visa norms and government guidelines issued in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Metropolitan Magistrate Siddharth Malik passed the order after the Malaysian nationals filed a plea seeking lesser punishment under the plea bargaining process by accepting mild charges, their lawyer S Hari Haran said. The plea bargaining application for 60 more Malaysians will be heard on Friday.
Meanwhile, another city court on Thursday granted bail to 76 foreign nationals of eight countries who were chargesheeted for the same offence.
Chief metropolitan magistrate Gurmohina Kaur granted the relief to the foreign nationals on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. While filing chargesheets, Delhi Police had dropped charges for offences of “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” and “criminal conspiracy” against 956 foreigners from 36 countries.
Foreigners from 22 countries — China, UK, Russia, Brazil, USA, Australia, France, among others — had got bail earlier.