Delhi riots: Court denies police custody for school principal

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday declined a request by the city police, seeking custody of Faisal Farooq, who was booked for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to precipitate and aggravate riots, in and around his school in North East Delhi in February. The court stated that there is a delay of four months in moving the application.

Farooq is the principal of Rajdhani school in North East Delhi.

Metropolitan Magistrate Richa Parihar said that the city police are seeking custody in the case after a delay of four months in moving the application since the case was registered soon after the incident on February 24. The police had filed an application seeking four days police custody after the Delhi High Court had stayed his release in connection to another FIR.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court was informed by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta and advocate Gaurav Kocchar that Farooq had been arrested in an FIR number 73/2020 registered at police station Dayalpur. The high court was told about the arrest while hearing a plea by the city police seeking cancellation of bail in FIR no-134/2020 following which the court had stayed the release of Faisal. Faisal has been accused of orchestrating the riots outside his school.

A Delhi court had on Saturday granted bail to the Farooq stating that the CCTV footage did not show his presence at the place of the incident where the riots had broken out. But on Monday, police had approached the high court against the lower court’s decision to release him on bail.

On Wednesday, advocates RK Kocchar and Gaurav Kocchar, told the court that the contents of both the FIRs are the same and his client has already been investigated in this case. The counsels submitted that the FIR in the present case was registered with a malafide intention against the accused on the same facts.

Opposing the police custody, he also said that the accused was formally arrested again in the present case (FIR-73) on June 22 only to defeat the purpose of bail granted to accused in FIR number –134 on Saturday.

Seeking custody, the Investigating Officer (IO), told the court that the co-accused had to be arrested and further investigation is pending. He said that 76 FIRs have been registered with respect to the violence around the Rajdhani school and this case is different from the one in which Faisal has been granted bail.

He also contended that the Farooq had to be taken to several parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi for further investigation.

After hearing the contentions, the court agreed with the contentions of Farooq’s counsel and said that the incidents in both the FIRs had taken place on the same date and even the allegations are same. It also said that the accused, Faisal, has been in custody for last four months in connection to the other FIR and even in that case the police had contended that he had to be taken to other states for investigation.

“I do not find any justification in moving the present application after a delay of about four months when the facts were within the knowledge of the IO himself from the very first day of the incident and moreover both the cases were simultaneously registered at same police station --Dayalpur,” the court said while refusing police custody.

Earlier this month, police had charged 18 people in connection to the riots that broke out at the Rajdhani Public School, while naming its principal, Farooq for hatching a conspiracy to precipitate and aggravate riots, in and around Rajdhani School. His counsel had denied the charges and said that Farooq had infact informed police control room about the riots.

Police claimed in the charge sheet that the call detail analysis of Farooque suggested that the he had links with links with prominent members of Popular Front of India, Pinjratod group, Jamia Coordination Committee. The members of these organisations have also been arrested conspiracy behind the riots in north east Delhi.