Accused not entitled to bail, taking part in sufferer card: Police in SC

Opposing the bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and three others booked for his or her alleged involvement within the 2020 Delhi riots, Delhi Police informed the Supreme Court docket that the accused had been making an attempt to play “sufferer card” on the grounds of lengthy incarceration.

In an affidavit, the Delhi Police claimed that the accused themselves had been chargeable for delay within the graduation of trial within the case for “mala fide and mischievous” causes. “No floor for bail has been made by the petitioners,” the police stated.

“The conspiracy hatched, nurtured and executed by the petitioner was to strike on the very coronary heart of the sovereignty and integrity of the nation by destroying communal concord,” it stated, accusing them of instigating the gang to abrogate public order to the extent of armed riot.
“Proof on file means that the moment conspiracy was sought to be replicated and executed pan India,” the police claimed, including: “No liberty of bail will be granted to the petitioners for committing a heinous offence of the best order attacking the very roots of integrity and sovereignty of the nation.”

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court docket had hauled up the Delhi Police for not submitting its response to the bail pleas filed by the accused. A bench of justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria noticed that it had given the police adequate time to answer the pleas and earlier made it clear that the matter could be disposed of on October 27.

The counsel for the Delhi authorities had sought two extra weeks to answer the pleas. The bench, nonetheless, posted the matter for Friday. It noticed that the accused have been in jail for about 5 years with out trial. The riots occurred in February 2020 following clashes over the then-proposed Citizenship Modification Act (CAA). As per the Delhi Police, the riots prompted the loss of life of 53 folks and injured lots of. The case pertains to allegations that the accused had hatched a bigger conspiracy to trigger a number of riots. The FIR on this case was registered by a particular cell of the Delhi Police underneath numerous provisions of the Indian Penal Code and UAPA.

A lot of the accused had been booked in a number of FIRs, resulting in a number of bail petitions earlier than totally different courts. Most have been in custody since 2020.