The Delhi High Court on Tuesday blamed the people on bail in the Delhi riots conspiracy case for the delay in the trial in the case and said the same was impacting those still in jail. The Court held neither Police nor court can be blamed for delay.
A Division Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidynathan Shankar said that accused persons, who got bail, were trying to delay the arguments on charge on the ground that the investigation is still pending, and this has impacted those accused who are still in prison.A total of 18 people have been named as accused by the Delhi police in this case, out of which six - Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Safoora Zargar, Faizan Khan and Ishrat Jahan - are out on bail.
"Material on record indicates that certain accused persons have got bail and some of the accused persons are in prison. Those accused persons who got bail are trying to delay the arguments on charge on the ground that the investigation is still pending. The arguments on charge are being delayed by the accused persons who are out on bail at the cost of those accused persons who are in prison," the Court observed.
It further said that even though the trial court directed the counsel for the accused to decide amongst themselves as to how and in what order the arguments on charge will be advanced, there was no consensus among them.The Bench found no fault with the Delhi Police or the trial court for the protraction of the trial."The facts and order sheets reveal that the accused themselves have been responsible for delaying the trial at various points in time. The inordinate delay in trial, as alleged by the appellant herein is not due to the inaction of the respondent agency or the trial court," the court said.
The High Court made the observations while rejecting the bail plea filed by Delhi riots accused Tasleem Ahmed who is one among the accused who are still in jail.In the detailed judgement in Ahmed's bail, the Court ruled that long incarceration cannot be the sole reason for the grant of bail if the facts of the case demand otherwise.
Meanwhile, the High Court on observed that a hurried trial in the Delhi Riots conspiracy case would be detrimental to both the accused and the State.A Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur noted that the Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet running into 3,000 pages, with an additional 30,000 pages of electronic evidence.The Court recorded that the police had carried out a detailed investigation, leading to the arrest of several people and, in such a background, "the pace of the trial will progress naturally".
"A hurried trial would also be detrimental to the rights of both the Appellants and the State.
The parties have informed this Court that the trial is currently at the stage of hearing arguments on the framing of charges, thus, it indicates that the case is progressing," the Court observed.The lawyers appearing for the accused had cited delay in the trial as one of the major reasons to grant them bail.
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