A court in New Delhi on Wednesday issued formal orders for the release of four individuals accused in the larger conspiracy case connected to the February 2020 northeast Delhi communal riots. This development came swiftly after the Supreme Court granted them bail earlier this week.
Court Formalities and Verification Reports
The Delhi Police submitted its verification reports for the four accused – Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa Ur Rahman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Meeran Haider – on Wednesday. These reports were necessary to confirm the validity of the documents and sureties presented for their bail bonds.
Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai accepted the bail bonds furnished by the accused. After reviewing the verification reports, the judge directed the jail authorities to release them from custody.
Release from Tihar Jail
The release process began on Wednesday evening. Gulfisha Fatima was the first to walk out of Tihar Jail, completing her formalities around 9:30 PM. The remaining three accused – Shifa Ur Rahman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Meeran Haider – were released shortly after.
However, a fifth accused, Shadab Ahmed, who was also granted bail by the Supreme Court on Monday, has not yet appeared before the trial court to complete the necessary bail formalities.
Supreme Court's Differentiated Stand and Bail Conditions
The Supreme Court's decision on Monday was not uniform for all accused. While granting bail to these five individuals, the apex court denied bail to two other accused, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.
The court observed that Khalid and Imam stood on a "qualitatively different footing" concerning the nature of the prosecution's case and the evidence on record. It noted that the alleged role and culpability of the five granted bail appeared to be "limited in nature" compared to that of Khalid and Imam.
The release comes with 11 strict conditions imposed by the Supreme Court. These include:
- A prohibition on attending rallies or public meetings.
- A ban on circulating posters, banners, or any campaign material in any form.
- Each accused must execute a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh.
- They must provide two local sureties of the same amount to the satisfaction of the trial court.
Several activists and former student leaders were arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in this case. With this latest order, most of them have now secured bail.
