A city court on Monday granted bail to former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan, booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act (UAPA), in the “larger conspiracy” case pertaining to the north-east Delhi riots.
The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat.
In his bail order, ASJ Rawat noted that while the prosecution had tried to show Ms. Jahan’s link with co-accused Khalid Saifi, Natasha Narwal and Safoora Zargar, the fact remained that “she was neither physically present in north-east Delhi” nor was she part of any organisation or WhatsApp groups.
The order further said that Ms. Jahan’s name didn’t crop up in any of the several “conspiratorial meetings” held by co-accused persons”.
“...It is not the case of the prosecution that she was giving directions to other accused persons to contend that her position and conspiracy was bigger than others,” the order read.
Ms. Jahan was arrested by the Delhi Police on February 26, 2020, in a case related to riots in the Jagatpuri area of Shahdara. She was granted bail on the same day but arrested soon after in the UAPA case. In June 2020, Ms. Jahan was granted interim bail for 15 days to get married.
Advocate Pradeep Teotia, who was arguing on behalf of Ms. Jahan, had submitted before the court that his client’s case was “on a better footing” than those of the other co-accused arrested in the case.
‘No iota of evidence’
He also argued that there was “no iota of evidence” pointing to the direct involvement of Ms. Jahan in the case, and she was being “falsely implicated” in the matter.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, who was arguing against the bail application, said Ms. Jahan was in touch with all other co-accused who were involved in carrying out a “premeditated conspiracy”, leading to the riots.
Khalid’s case deferred
Meanwhile, the order on bail plea of former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, another accused in the larger conspiracy case, has been deferred to March 21 due to the late submission of written arguments by the defence counsels.
The court had reserved its order on Mr. Khalid’s plea on March 3 after hearing submissions on both the parties in the matter.
Orders on the bail applications of co-accused Saleem Khan and JNU student Sharjeel Imam in the same case have also been deferred to March 22.
