Court rejects bail plea of Shahrukh Pathan in North East Delhi riot case
New Delhi: Delhi’s Karkardooma Court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of Shahrukh Pathan after considering his conduct in custody and before arrest.
He had sought bail on the grounds of delay in the trial.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Amitabh Rawat dismissed the plea after considering his conduct during judicial custody, during court proceedings and before his arrest. The court also said there was eyewitness testimony and video footage to support the charges against him.
Advocate Khalid Akhtar appeared on behalf of Shahrukh Pathan. He argued that the accused was seeking bail on the grounds of delay in the trial.
It was argued that the accused has been in custody for the last three years and nine months. So far only two prosecution witnesses have been examined.
One charge sheet and three supplementary charge sheets have been filed. The prosecution has 90 witnesses and only two of them have been fully examined. The case was heard daily for some time.
The defense counsels further said that the court had ordered a day-to-day hearing on March 7, 2023; The court had fixed 8th date for the hearing but the hearing has not started yet.
On the other hand, the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) of Delhi Police opposed the bail plea. He said that the conduct of the accused in the jail was not good and he had also met the Red Fort bomb blast culprits in the jail.
It was also argued that the accused had been summoned several times by the jail authorities for his conduct, and a mobile phone was also recovered from him. He also beat up other prisoners in the jail.
The defense lawyer refuted and said that the maximum punishment is 10 years. The lawyer argued, “The case was not delayed because of the accused. If other accused are not being produced, is it my fault? Can I be put in jail because of this?”
He is accused of attempt to murder and pointing a gun at a policeman. Karkardooma Court reserved its decision on the bail of Shahrukh Pathan, accused of firing on police during the Delhi riots in 2020.
