The Delhi High Court has granted interim bail to Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI) student Asif Iqbal Tanha, arrested in connection with the north-east Delhi riots, to allow him to take his three remaining backlog examinations to complete his B.A. (Hons.) (Persian).
A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani also attached a string of conditions for Mr. Tanha to comply with, including banning him from deleting or tampering with his browsing history/cookies on the computer, or any SMS or call records from the phone, during the interim bail period.
The 25-year old was arrested in May last year for allegedly being part of a “premeditated conspiracy” in the riots. He has been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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The HC ordered that Mr. Tanha be released on interim custody bail on June 13 by 9 a.m. and shall be brought back to prison by 6 p.m. on June 26.
During this period, Mr. Tanha will stay at a hotel in Kalkaji under the custody of two prison guards who would be deputed by the Jail Superintendent.
Mr. Tanha will have to bear all charges, costs and expenses for two rooms at the hotel, one to be occupied by him and the other to be occupied by the two deputed prison guards.
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As food is not available at the hotel because of COVID-19 restrictions, food for Mr. Tanha as well as for the deputed prison guards will be arranged through online apps/websites by or on behalf of Mr. Tanha at his cost and expense.
“During the period of interim custody bail, Mr. Tanha shall not invite to the said facility any visitors or guests, including family members, friends, classmates or any other person,” the HC ordered.
A laptop and a basic mobile phone, which will be used during the period, will first be checked by the police. Mr. Tanha has also been directed to provide details of the IMEI number and the name of the manufacturer service provider of dongle/mobile hotspot, to the Special Cell officials.
The HC took note that Mr. Tanha has undertaken that he will not use the laptop or the phone or the dongle/mobile hotspot device for any purpose other than for study, preparations and taking of the exams.
Mr. Tanha will be entitled to make phone calls to his family and counsel for up to a total of 10 minutes per day.