The Delhi High Court on Tuesday questioned the Delhi Police as to how long accused persons can be kept in jail while remarking that five years have elapsed since the February 2020 riots, yet the arguments on the framing of charges have still not been concluded.
A Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar made the remark while hearing the bail plea filed by Tasleem Ahmed, an accused charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the north-east Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case.
“Five years have gone by. Even arguments on the charge have not been completed. In matters like this, with 700 witnesses, how much time can a person be kept inside [jail]?” said the Bench.
The court’s remarks came after the accused’s advocate, Mehmood Pracha, sought relief for his client on the grounds of parity in relation to the co-accused in the trial.
“He [Ahmed] was arrested on June 24, 2020… He has already spent five years,” Mr. Pracha argued, citing the examples of co-accused Devangana Kalita, Asif Iqbal Tanha and Natasha Narwal, who were granted bail in 2021 on the grounds of delay in the trial proceedings.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad contended that the prosecution could not be blamed for the delay, as there were several occasions when the matter was adjourned on the request of accused persons.
The hearing will resume on Wednesday.
‘Larger conspiracy’ case
The “larger conspiracy” case is among the many pertaining to the riots and is so named because the Delhi police have claimed that the communal violence was part of a “deep-rooted conspiracy”.
Key accused in the case include former Delhi councillor Tahir Hussain and student activists Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi.
Published – July 09, 2025 01:31 am IST
