Delhi riots: HC denies bail to accused in murder case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail to a man in a murder case arising from the northeast Delhi riots of 2020, saying that the charges were yet to be framed and material witnesses were also required to be examined.

Justice Mukta Gupta said that there was no ground to grant bail to the accused, Sirazuddin, at this stage and noted that the available video footage showed him as part of a mob and carrying a danda (stick).

The case pertains to the killing of a local, Rahul Solanki, on February 24, 2020, in northeast Delhi.

As per the FIR, one of the rioters had fired his pistol and the bullet hit the neck of the deceased.

The court noted that the accused is stated to be a member of the mob and the same was visible in the available video footage.

"Petitioner is stated to be a member of the said mob. As per the video footage available till 4.15 PM, where after the video was damaged by one of the members of the mob, the petitioner is seen as a part of the mob carrying a danda (stick)," it stated in its order dated September 23.

It added that the accused was also identified by a witness as one of the people present in the mob.

"Considering the fact that at the moment the charge is yet to be framed and material witnesses are also required to be examined, this Court finds no ground to grant bail to the petitioner," the judge said.

The petitioner sought bail on the ground that even if he was seen in the CCTV footage, he was not in possession of any firearm which was recovered from the possession of a co-accused who was not seen in the video footage.

The accused contended that as per the statement of the alleged eye-witness, the firing was done by another co-accused, Mustakeem, and the deceased had no injury caused by a stick.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 700 injured.