The Delhi High Court on Monday granted bail to a man accused of being part of a mob which "brutally attacked" a police station, during the riots in north east Delhi last year, which resulted in the death of a head constable and grievous injuries to two senior police officers.
Justice Suresh K Kait granted the relief to the accused for the reasons that the fourth charge sheet has already been filed in the case, trial shall take substantial amount of time and the petitioner, who was in prison since November 2020, "cannot be made to languish behind bars for an indefinite period of time".
The court said that petitioner -- Mohd Mansoor -- shall be released on bail "forthwith" on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 20,000 with one surety of the like amount.
It also directed that the accused "shall not directly or indirectly influence any witness and shall appear before the trial court as and when directed".
Advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, appearing for the accused, during the proceedings had told the court that his client was not named in the FIR or the subsequent three charge sheets in the case.
He was named only in the fourth charge sheet and the allegation against him was that he was seen as part of the mob which was pelting stones, Mir had said.
He had also told the court that his client was suffering from Acute Transient Psychotic Disorder (ATPD) at the time of the incident on February 24 last year.
Mir had further argued that no weapon was recovered from the accused and a co-accused in the case has already been granted bail.
The prosecution had opposed the bail plea saying he was part of the mob which pelted stones on on-duty police personnel.
After hearing both sides, Justice Kait said that according to CCTV footage there was no doubt that Mansoor was part of the mob which pelted stones on the police, but the identification of the accused by the prosecution before the trial court and the high court was "at variance".
The high court said the issues with regard to mental fitness of the accused and whether he intended to cause injury to the police personnel were all matters of trial and both sides will have to make out their case before the trial court.
The high court said it was not commenting on the merits of the case and directed that the accused be released on bail.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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