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The Delhi High Court has refused to stay criminal proceedings against former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in the FIRs registered against him in connection with the north-east Delhi riots.
“No directions for a stay of criminal proceedings are passed, at this stage,” Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta said while posting the application for further hearing on January 25, 2022.
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Mr. Hussain, in his applications, sought clubbing of two FIRs registered at Dayalpur police station with a third FIR registered under the stringent anti-terror law — Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act — by Delhi Police’s Special Cell in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case.
On May 15, last year, a trial court here denied bail to Mr. Hussain in connection with the FIRs noting that it was “prima facie apparent that the applicant (Mr. Hussain) abused his muscle power and political clout to foment communal violence in the area”.
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“The spread of riots on such a big scale in such a short time is not possible without a premeditated conspiracy. So, now when the applicant found himself up against the wall, he cannot pass on the buck by simply taking a plea that since he did not participate physically in the riots, so he has no role to play in the riots,” the trial court had observed.
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Mr. Hussain, in his application before the High Court, urged that he could not be subjected to fresh investigation by the police in respect of the same incident as it would be an “infringement of the right of accused under Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India and judgments passed by the Supreme Court”.
Article 20(3) of the Constitution states, ‘No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself’.
Mr. Hussain has been in judicial custody since March 16, 2020.