AMN / WEB DESK
The Delhi High Court today granted bail to Shahnawaz and Mohd Ayyub and rejected the bail pleas of two other accused, Sadiq and Irshad Ali.
The High Court granted bail to two of the four accused in connection with the murder of Head Constable Ratan Lal during the Northeast Delhi riots last year.
While the single judge bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad granted bail to Shahnawaz and Mohd Ayyub, the bail pleas of two other accused, Sadiq and Irshad Ali, were rejected.
Earlier on September 3, the court had granted bail to five accused, namely Mohd. Arif, Shadab Ahmad, Furkan, Suvaleen and Tabassum.
While granting bail to the five accused, the court had noted, “It is the Constitutional duty of the Court to ensure that there is no arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty in the face of excess of State power. Bail is the rule and jail is the exception, and courts must exercise their jurisdiction to uphold the tenets of personal liberty, subject to rightful regulation of the same by validly enacted legislation”.
“The Supreme Court has time and again held that courts need to be alive to both ends of the spectrum, i.e. the duty of the Courts to ensure proper enforcement of criminal law, and the duty of the Courts to ensure that the law does not become a tool for targeted harassment,” it asaid.
Head constable Ratan Lal was reportedly attacked by a mob near the Chand Bagh protest site on Wazirabad road on February 24, 2020. He was rushed to GTB Hospital but was announced dead on arrival. The FIR was registered on the statement of a constable, who was reportedly on duty in the area.
e also stated that the protesters attacked DCP Shahdara and ACP Gokulpuri. DCP Shahdara sustained head injuries.
In a chargesheet filed last year, the Delhi Police had stated that the murder of Ratan Lal was a part of a deeper conspiracy to trigger communal riots across the national capital.Live TV