Tahir Hussain gets 12-hour daily parole to campaign for polls

The order of the court came on a plea filed by Hussain seeking interim bail till February 4 in one of the cases against him in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

New Delhi

The court also took an undertaking from Hussain not to visit his original home at Karawal Nagar or make any comments or address any press conference about the cases against him. (HT Archive)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted custody parole to former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Mohammad Tahir Hussain permitting him to come out of jail to campaign for 12 hours every day beginning Wednesday till February 3 , on the strength of an undertaking that he would bear the expenses associated with such custody, estimated at a little over ₹2 lakh per day.

The order of the court came on a plea filed by Hussain seeking interim bail till February 4 in one of the cases against him in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi riots where he is accused of instigating the murder of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma. He sought permission to canvas for votes in the Delhi assembly polls to be held on February 5 as an All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate from Mustafabad constituency.

A three-judge bench headed by justice Vikram Nath said, “Considering the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case we issue direction that the petitioner be released for the day as per timing prescribed in the Jail Manual from January 29 till February 3 upon the deposit of expenses for two days... ₹2,07,429 per day approximately.” These expenses included the cost of the police personnel, escort vehicle and the jail van in which Hussain will be ferried around.

The court also took an undertaking from Hussain not to visit his original home at Karawal Nagar or make any comments or address any press conference about the cases against him. He was permitted to visit the AIMIM office and address meetings within his constituency. He was directed to make an advance deposit of expenses for two days at a time, with the first tranche to be paid by 6 pm on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Hussain’s lawyer, senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal informed the court that he was not pressing for interim bail as the last date for campaigning was nearing. He sought custody parole and was willing to give an undertaking to bear the expenses and refrain from speaking about the cases against him.

The bench, also comprising justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta told the Delhi police to take instructions on grant of custody parole and calculate the expenses to be incurred by the petitioner while directing the matter to be again heard post-lunch.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju appearing for the Delhi police objected to the grant of custody parole apprehending that it may be treated as a precedent.

Agarwal objected that the amount seemed exorbitant, pointing out that one of the co-accused was granted custody parole for two weeks to appear for an examination and the expenses were capped at ₹50,000. The bench said, “Writing examination is different from contesting election. If you are interested, we will let you go. Or else you are safe in jail. You will receive more sympathy from voters if you are in jail.”

The question whether Hussain should get bail to canvas for elections saw a split verdict by an apex court bench of justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah on January 22. After an elaborate hearing, justice Mithal dismissed the bail plea noting the serious charge against Hussain, the pending money laundering case against him in which he is yet to get bail, the strong possibility of witnesses being tampered or influenced, and the possibility of the relief being misused in future by undertrials.

But justice Amanullah felt that grave and serious charge cannot be the sole basis to deny bail as the charge, however serious, is merely an allegation till it gets proved in trial. The judge, noting Hussain’s long period of incarceration since March 2020 and the slow pace of trial, granted interim bail to him till the forenoon of February 4 on the condition that he would not speak about the cases or incidents related to the 2020 riots during campaigning. He was directed to remain within the confines of Mustafabad constituency and surrender before the jail authorities before the expiry of the bail term.

The difference of opinion led the matter to be referred to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) who assigned the case to a three-judge bench for settling the matter.