Tahir Hussain bail plea: SC defers hearing till January 22
The former AAP councillor is an accused in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
The Supreme Court deferred the hearing on the bail plea of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Mohammad Tahir Hussain till Wednesday to understand the stand of Delhi Police after the top court observed that his custody of over four years on the charge of being an instigator during the 2020 Delhi riots would entitle him to regular bail.

“There are a few things emerging in this case. It has been nearly five years of custody, and he is only an instigator. On this charge, he has got bail in nine other similar cases. Suppose we are satisfied on merit that a ground is made for considering regular bail, why should we not grant him? We can’t shut our eyes to that,” a bench of justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said.
Hussain in his petition had sought interim bail from January 14 to February 9 as he is contesting the upcoming Delhi elections on an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) ticket from Mustafabad constituency. He was recently granted parole by the Delhi high court for the nomination process. However, the HC denied him bail on January 13, following which he approached the top court.
Appearing for the Delhi Police, advocate Rajat Nair sought time to take instructions as he received a late intimation about the listing of the case. On Monday, the matter was mentioned by Hussain’s lawyer, senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal, and kept for Tuesday.
The bench agreed to take up the case on Wednesday, while reminding Nair, “The interim bail granted to Hussain is expiring. You have to come prepared. We will take up the matter tomorrow.”
Hussain is an accused in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. He sought interim bail till February 9 citing past precedents when persons contesting polls were granted bail to campaign during elections.
Agarwal pointed out that Hussain was taken into custody in March 2020 and following the filing of charge sheet, the trial is expected to take time as only 22 out of 115 witnesses have been examined. He said that the allegation against him is that some witnesses claimed he instigated the mob to kill Sharma.
“Your involvement is very much there and the charge sheet mentions your presence at the spot. Witnesses have stated that you were instigating people to kill,” the bench said.
Agarwal said that the charge against him will be defended in trial even as he pointed out that he was the one who made PCR calls seeking police help. However, in similar cases pertaining to the 2020 riots where the charge against him is of instigation, he is out on bail, he said.
The court suggested, “You press for regular bail. Why are you insisting on interim bail. Election is not the only thing in life to be done.”
Hussain’s lawyer admitted that the present appeal is limited to the grant of interim bail for the purpose of contesting elections.
He is also facing probe in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 riots along with a money laundering probe registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the riots.
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