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Daryaganj violence suspects get bail, court slams cops over loopholes in probe
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
Noting loopholes in the police investigation, a Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to 15 suspects who were arrested for their alleged role in the Daryaganj violence on December 20 during anti-CAA and NRC protests.
The court noted that despite repeated requests made to the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (central), Daryaganj, for providing CCTV footage of the incident, no such footage had been provided to date.
Judge Kamini Lau released the suspects on a bail of Rs 25,000 with a surety of the like amount. During the bail period, the suspects will not try to contact or influence, directly or indirectly, any of the witnesses of the case, the judge said. She said all of them would have to appear before the station house officer (SHO), Daryaganj, every Saturday till four weeks from the date of release.
Pointing out the reasons for granting bail, the court said the CCTV footage which the investigating agency had relied on is of poor quality. The judge said no assessment of the damage caused to the private car has been done.
The judge expressed displeasure over the failure of the investigating officer (IO) to produce the medico legal case files of the accused despite repeated adjournments.
“I am not satisfied in the manner in which the Investigating officer (IO) has tried to skirt the issue and his failure to place on record the opinion on the MLCs cannot be a ploy to further curtail the liberties of the applicants/accused, who are in judicial custody for the last more than 20 days,” the judge said in a 13-page order, adding all sections invoked in the FIR are bailable and triable by magistrate.
The judge admonished the protestors, saying prima facie the protest does not appear to be peaceful, particularly in light of the damage caused to the vehicle and injuries caused not only to police personnel on duty but also to media persons covering the protest.
“We, the people of India, have given to ourselves the Constitution and agreed to disagree. In our democratic set-up, we have a fundamental right to peaceful protest guaranteed by the Constitution, which right cannot be curtailed by the state. However, at the same time, our Constitution strikes a fine balance between the rights and duties.
“While exercising our right of peaceful protest, it is our duty to ensure no corresponding right of another is violated. Violence or destruction of property is totally unacceptable. There has to be zero tolerance for any kind of violence or damage to property whether private or public. Lawlessness cannot be encouraged,” the judge said.
The 15 accused had moved court against the magistrate order rejecting their bail. They were arrested in connection with the violence in which a car was burnt outside the DCP office during anti-CAA and NRC protests.
The police had alleged the protestors were incited after a speech of Bhim Army chief ChandraShekhar Azad. They told the court that the agitators turned violent and started pelting stone outside the DCP office in Daryaganj.
Opposing these allegations, senior Rebecca John, who appeared for the suspects, had said her clients are being falsely implicated and there is nothing on record to show that any public property was damaged.
