New Delhi, (Samajweekly) A Delhi court on Friday dismissed the bail application filed by Shahrukh Pathan, who had allegedly opened fire at a policeman in Delhi’s Northeast area during the riots in February.
The 23-year-old was nabbed on March 3 from Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district after he was caught on camera waving a gun at unarmed Delhi Police head constable Deepak Dahiya during the tensions in February.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Kumar Malhotra stated, “I am not inclined to grant bail to the accused. Bail application accordingly stands dismissed.”
The court also noted that the right to protest is a fundamental right in a democracy, but this right of peaceful protest and open criticism of government policies does not extend to disturbing the public order.
During the course of proceedings, Special Public Prosecutor D.K. Bhatia told the court that it is still investigating his role in connection with the conspiracy of the riots, adding that he led the violent mob in the area.
Advocate Asghar Khan, who represented the accused, told the court that the incident occurred in the spur of the moment. Khan sought his bail on the grounds that he had clean antecedents and the chargesheet has already been filed in the case.
He cited Shaheen Bagh shooter Kapil Baisala’s cases who was granted bail in the case.
In this case, FIR was registered against Sharukh on the statement of head constable Deepak Dahiya, who he had pointed the gun at.
As per his statement, he was present at a 66 feet road in Jafrabad, under the metro line, where so many people had gathered illegally and were raising slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The members of unlawful assembly were having stones, bottles and pistols in their hands and started pelting stones on them. In the meantime, one person, carrying a pistol, ran towards him and fired 3-4 shots on the people around.
When the accused was at a distance of around 9-10 feet from the complainant, he aimed the pistol at his head and fired with an intention to kill him. The complainant bent his head and somehow saved himself, the statement said.
Shahrukh was booked for offences such as attempt to murder, criminal force to deter public servant, and possession of a dangerous weapon. Later, charges for rioting and unlawful assembly were also added to the case.
A 350-page chargesheet was filed in Karkardooma Court against Shaharukh Pathan, Kaleem Ahmad and one Ishtiyak Mallik on May 1.
Kaleem Ahmad had given him shelter, while Ishtiyak Mallik’s location history revealed his presence at the spot during the riots.
A 7.65 mm pistol and two live rounds were recovered fromAShahrukhAby the police pursuant to the commission of crime.
