The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Samajwadi Party MLA from Kairana assembly seat Nahid Hasan in a case of alleged criminal intimidation.
A bench of Justices A S Bopanna and P S Narasimha noted the material witnesses in the case have already been examined and Hasan was not keeping good health.
"It is no doubt true that the High Court has adverted in detail to the facts while rejecting the request of the appellant for bail.
"However, having taken note of the subsequent developments and also the fact that the material witnesses have already been examined and the appellant is not keeping a good health, without expressing any opinion on the merits, we find it appropriate that the appellant be released on bail," the bench said.
The supreme court also directed that the lower court, while imposing the bail conditions, shall take note of the apprehension expressed by the authorities that there is likely to be interference with the trial.
"In terms of the same it is directed that the appellant be released on bail, on conditions to be imposed by the trial court," the bench said.
An FIR was registered against Hasan and a man named Nawab in 2019 by a woman Shahjahan under sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code at Kairana police station in Shamli district.
As per the complaint, the woman's husband Ummed Rao had leased his mini truck to Nawab, one of the aides of Hasan. Nawab owed Rs 1.85 lakh to Ummed and, despite several reminders by the latter, refused to return it.
When Nawab refused to return the truck, Ummed approached police.
The FIR alleged Shahjahan and her husband were abused, threatened and warned by Hasan and his aide that they would implicate them in false cases.
According to Ummed's wife, her husband suffered a heart attack due to this.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
