Delhi High Court
Liyakat Ali vs State Nct Of Delhi on 16 March, 2021
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*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Reserved on: 10.03.2021
Pronounced on: 16.03.2021
(i) + BAIL APPLN. 3039/2020
LIYAKAT ALI ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr.Dinesh Kumar Tiwari,
Advocate
Versus
STATE NCT OF DELHI ..... Respondent
Through: Mr.S.V. Raju, ASG with
Mr. Amit Mahajan & Mr.
Rajat Nair Special Public
Prosecutor for State with
Mr. Dhruv Pande, Ms. Sairica
Raju, Mr. A Venkatesh,
Mr.Guntur Pramod Kumar,
Mr. Shaurya R Rai, Ms. Zeal
Shah, Ms. Aarushi Singh &
Mr. Anshuman Singh,
Advocates
(ii) + BAIL APPLN. 3040/2020
ARSHAD QAYYUM @ MONU ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr.Dinesh Kumar Tiwari,
Advocate
Versus
THE STATE (GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI) ..... Respondent
Through: Mr.S.V. Raju, ASG with
BAIL APPLN.3039/2020; 3040/2020; 3623/2020 & 120/2021 Page 1 of 15
Mr. Amit Mahajan & Mr.
Rajat Nair Special Public
Prosecutor for State with
Mr. Dhruv Pande, Ms. Sairica
Raju, Mr. A Venkatesh,
Mr.Guntur Pramod Kumar,
Mr. Shaurya R Rai, Ms. Zeal
Shah, Ms. Aarushi Singh &
Mr. Anshuman Singh,
Advocates
(iii) + BAIL APPLN. 3623/2020
GULFAM @ VIP ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr.Salim Malik, Advocate
Versus
THE STATE GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI ..... Respondent
Through: Mr.S.V. Raju, ASG with
Mr. Amit Mahajan & Mr.
Rajat Nair Special Public
Prosecutor for State with
Mr. Dhruv Pande, Ms. Sairica
Raju, Mr. A Venkatesh,
Mr.Guntur Pramod Kumar,
Mr. Shaurya R Rai, Ms. Zeal
Shah, Ms. Aarushi Singh &
Mr. Anshuman Singh,
Advocates
(iv) + BAIL APPLN. 120/2021
IRSHAD AHMAD ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr.Anurag Jain, Advocate
Versus
STATE ( GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI) ..... Respondent
BAIL APPLN.3039/2020; 3040/2020; 3623/2020 & 120/2021 Page 2 of 15
Through: Mr.S.V. Raju, ASG with
Mr. Amit Mahajan & Mr.
Rajat Nair Special Public
Prosecutor for State with
Mr. Dhruv Pande, Ms. Sairica
Raju, Mr. A Venkatesh,
Mr.Guntur Pramod Kumar,
Mr. Shaurya R Rai, Ms. Zeal
Shah, Ms. Aarushi Singh &
Mr. Anshuman Singh,
Advocates
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURESH KUMAR KAIT
JUDGMENT
%
1. The petitioners in the above captioned four petitions are
accused in FIR No. 116/2020, registered at police station Khajuri
Khas, Delhi. The FIR in question has been registered for the
offences under Sections 109/114/147/148/149/153A/323/392/395/
427/436/454/505/120B/34 IPC. However, besides the aforesaid
offences, petitioner-Liyakat Ali in above captioned first petition
[Bail Appln. 3039/2020]; petitioner- Arshad Qayyum @ Monu in the
above captioned second petition [Bail Appln. 3040/2020] and
petitioner- Gulfam @ VIP in the above captioned third petition [Bail
Appln. 3623/2020] have been booked for the offences under
Sections 25/27 of Arms Act and petitioner - Irshad Ahmad in the
above captioned fourth petition [Bail Appln. 120/2021] has been
booked for offences under Sections 3 & 4 of Prevention to Damage
to Public Property Act, 1984. Petitioners in first three petitions,
namely, Liyakat Ali, Arshad Qayyum @ Monu and Gulfam @ VIP
were arrested on 23.03.2020, whereas Irshad Ahmad (petitioner in
fourth petition) was arrested on 18.03.2020 in this case.
2. These petitions pertain to North-East Delhi riots, which took
place in the last week of February, 2020 and spread over the entire
North-East District of Delhi.
3. The fulcrum of these petitions is a common FIR and
therefore, with the consent of learned counsel for the parties, these
petitions have been heard together and are being disposed of by this
common judgment.
4. The foundation of the FIR in question rests upon the incident
of riots which occurred on 24.02.2020 at about 02:15 p.m. in the
area of Chand Bagh Pulia, E Block, Khajuri Khas, Delhi. The FIR
was registered at the instance of complainant- Tejveer Singh @
Tejpal Singh. In the complaint, he has alleged that marriage of his
brother's daughter was fixed for 25.02.2020 and on 24.02.2020,
food was being prepared on the first floor of Bharat Vatika, Main
Karawal Nagar, Khajuri Khas, Delhi. On the said day i.e.
24.02.2020, a large mob was present on the roof of Tahir Hussain,
Councilor, and around the area and they were pelting stones and
petrol bombs on the passer bys. A few of them, broke open the
shutter of the parking lot of Bharat Vatika and robbed the inmates.
The mob burnt one of the parked vehicle and broke the motor cycle
of complainant. Thereafter, the mob reached on the first floor of
Bharat Vatika, where food was being prepared for the marriage
ceremony and destroyed the food and robbed of Rs.62,000/- from
Rajvir Yadav who was taking care of the food preparation. The
complainant further alleged that he can identify the accused persons
along with Tahir Hussain and prayed for legal action against them.
On the complaint of the complainant, the FIR in question was
registered on 27.02.2020.
5. After completion of investigation, charge sheet has been filed
and name of petitioner-Liyakat Ali is appearing at Serial No.7,
Arshad Qayyum @ Monu at serial No. 2; Gulfam @ VIP at serial
No. 3 and Irshad Ahmad at serial No.4. However, in the charge
sheet filed all the petitioners have been booked for the offences
under Sections under Sections 109/114/147/148/149/
153A/323/392/395/ 427/436/ 454/505/120B/34 IPC and Sections
25/27 of Arms Act.
6. The role attributed to petitioner-Liyakat Ali is that he was
found promoting enmity and disharmony by rioting, burning the
vehicles, destroying the food preparation at Bharat Vatika, stone
pelting and instigating the mobs. Eye witness Pradeep Verma,
Surender Singh and Rajbir Singh Yadav in their statement recorded
under Section 161 Cr.P.C. have identified him being involved in
riots and instigating the mobs in riots. Constable Sangram Singh has
also identified him being present on the terrace of Tahir Hussain
along with his associates and instigating the mob of rioters to pelt
stones on the persons of other community. As per his call detail
record, he is found to be present at the place of the occurrence on
the said day. Petitioner-Liyakat Ali was initially arrested on
07.03.2020 in FIR No. 101/2020, registered at police station Khajuri
Khas and besides the present FIR, he is also accused in FIR No.
88/2020, registered at police station Dayalpuri, and in this way,
three different FIRs are pending to his credit pertaining to Delhi
riots in the month of February, 2020.
7. The role attributed to petitioner-Arshad Qayyum @ Monu is
similar to that of petitioner-Liyakat Ali. He has been identified by
eye witnesses Pradeep Verma, Surender Singh and Rajbir Singh
Yadav. Not only Constable Sangram Singh, but he has also been
identified by Head Constable Vikram Singh and Head Constable
Virender that he had broken the lock of shutter of parking of Bharat
Vatika and instigating the rioters. His call detail record also shows
his presence at the time of occurrence. Arshad Qayyum was initially
arrested on 18.02.2020 in FIR No. 101/2020 and in this case he has
been arrested on the basis of identification and statement of public
witnesses.
8. Petitioner- Gulfam @ VIP has also has been identified by eye
witnesses Pradeep Verma, Surender Singh and Rajbir Singh Yadav
as well as police officials on duty, namely, Constable Sangram
Singh, Head Constable Vikram Singh and Head Constable Virender.
His call detail record also shows his presence at the time of
occurrence. The role attributed to him is of breaking the lock of
shutter of parking of Bharat Vatika, burning the vehicles, robbery
and instigating the rioters.
9. The allegations leveled against the petitioner- Irshad Ahmad
are also exactly similar to that of petitioner- Liyakat Ali. Eye witness
Pradeep Verma, Surender Singh and Rajbir Singh Yadav in their
statement recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. have alleged that he
was involved in riots and instigating the mobs in riots and have
identified him. He has also been identified by Constable Sangram
Singh, as being present on the terrace of Tahir Hussain along with
his associates and instigating the mob of rioters to pelt stones on the
persons of other community. As per his call detail record, he is also
found to be present at the place of the occurrence on the day of the
incident.
10. At the hearing, Mr.Dinesh Kumar Tiwari, learned counsel
appearing for petitioner-Liyakat Ali submitted that petitioner is an
old man of 63 years of age and is the sole bread earner of his family
and he has been falsely implicated in this case. With regard to
petitioner- Arshad Qayyum @ Monu, Mr. Dinesh Kumar Tiwari,
learned counsel submitted that he is a young boy of 24 years and
having responsibility of his old aged parents and is the sole bread
earner of the family and he has also been falsely implicated in this
case.
11. Learned counsel further submitted that the alleged incident
had taken place on 24.02.2020 and statement of eye witnesses
Surender Singh, Pradeep Verma and Rajbir Singh was recorded on
14.03.2020 in which they stated that they had seen these petitioners
at the spot but no PCR call was made by them nor any DD entry to
this regard was made till 14.03.2020, and therefore, it is apparent
that these are planted witnesses. Learned counsel next submitted
that statement of Constable Sangram Singh recorded on 23.04.2020
is highly unbelievable as the alleged incident had happened on
24.02.2020 and no PCR call was made nor DD entry was made till
06.03.2020 and this shows that he was not present at the spot at the
time of the alleged incident. It is further submitted that call detail
record of these petitioners do not match with that of Tahir Hussain
and nothing incriminating has been recovered from their possession.
Learned counsel submitted that petitioners- Liyakat Ali and Arshad
Qayyum @ Monu are languishing in jail and investigation in this
case is over, as charge sheet has already been filed and that they will
prove their innocence at trial, and, therefore, they deserve to be
released on bail.
12. Mr. Salim Malik, Advocate, appearing for petitioner- Gulfam
@ VIP, submitted that petitioner is innocent and has clean
antecedents. The petitioner has not been named in the FIR, however,
his name has been brought into picture only during investigation on
the basis of suspicion. Moreover, there is a delay of three days in
registration of the FIR in question. There is no direct evidence of
electronic media such like CCTV footage, video clip etc. on the
basis of which presence of petitioner could be established at the spot
of incident. The petitioner is behind bars since 23.03.2020 on the
grounds of false allegations; he deserves to be released on bail.
13. Mr. Anurag Jain, Advocate appearing for petitioner- Irshad
Ahmad submitted that it is highly doubtful that the complainant of
the FIR is an eye witness to the incident, as he has not specifically
named anyone in the FIR. The petitioner has been roped in this case,
as he is a resident of the same locality where the alleged incident
had taken place. There is an unexplained delay in registration of FIR
and witnesses have been planted by the prosecution and no recovery
has been made from the petitioner. The petitioner is behind bars
since 18.03.2020 in this case. Pertinently, petitioner has been
granted bail in three other FIRs [FIR No. 80/2020, 120/2020 and
117/2020, registered at Dayalpur, Delhi] and in the present case,
charge sheet has already been filed. Thus, petitioner deserves to be
released on bail.
14. On the other hand, learned ASG appearing on behalf of
respondent/State has opposed the present petitions while submitting
that the alleged incident had not taken place on the spur of the
moment but it was a deep routed and pre-devised strategy by the
main accused Tahir Hussain, who along with petitioners and other
accused persons instigated the rioters. The role of petitioners in the
alleged incident has been vividly described by the eye witnesses and
the police officials, who are also witnesses to the incident in
question. Learned ASG pointed out that besides the instant FIR, two
more FIRs [FIR No. 101/2020, registered at police station Khajuri
Khas and FIR No. 88/2020, registered at police station Dayalpur]
are pending to the credit of petitioner- Liyakat Ali.
15. Learned ASG next submitted that petitioner- Arshad Qayyum
@ Monu in his disclosure statement has admitted to have received
his share of Rs.5,000/- out of the looted amount by Gulfam @ VIP
from Bharat Vatika. Similarly, Gulfam @ VIP in his disclosure
statement has accepted to having robbed Rs.62,000/- from the
person present at the first floor of Bharat Vatika and Rs.22,000/-
from the galla of parking on the day of the incident and of having
spent the looted money. Learned ASG pointed out that besides the
present case, FIR No. 153/2018, under Sections
186/353/332/308/427/34 IPC, was registered at police station
Khajuri Khas and also four FIRs being FIR No. 101/2020, registered
at police station Khajuri Khas and FIR Nos. 117/2020; 120/2020
and 80/2020, registered at police station Dayalpur are pending
against petitioner - Arshad Qayyum.
16. Learned ASG submitted that call detail record of these
petitioners show their presence in the area where communal riots
had taken place.
17. Learned ASG further submitted that the police
officials/witnesses Constable Sangram Singh, Head Constable
Vikram Singh and Head Constable Virender have identified the
petitioners among the photographs of various accused persons and
suspects. He submitted that in the alleged incident of riots, 53
innocent persons had lost their life and if the petitioners are released
on bail, there is every likelihood that they will again get involved in
criminal activities and so, these petitions deserve to be dismissed.
18. The rival contentions raised by both the sides have been heard
in detail and I have gone through the material placed on record.
19. It is not dispute that in the FIR in question, none of the
petitioners have been particularly named. Rather the complainant
has specifically stated that he can identify a few of the rioters. It is a
matter of record that alleged incident took place on 24.02.2020 but
the FIR in question has been registered on 27.02.2020. The
testimony of eye witnesses, namely, Pradeep Verma, Surender
Singh and Rajbir Singh Yadav under Section 161 Cr.P.C. has been
recorded on 14.03.2020 and none of them neither made any PCR
call nor any DD entry was made. Similarly, the statement of another
eye witness Constable Sangram was recorded on 23.04.2020 and
this Court fails to understand as to why despite having good
understanding of law and order, a police official who is witness to
riots would neither call PCR nor will make a DD entry in this
regard. Besides, it is not disputed that the call detail record of prime
accused Tahir Hussain does not match with those of petitioners.
Moreover, there is no evidence against the petitioners such like
CCTV footage, video clip or photo to connect the petitioners with
the incident in question and nothing incriminating has been
recovered from their possession. This Court is informed that charge
sheet in this FIR case has already been filed and trial is in progress.
20. In view of the above, without commenting on the merits of
the case, prima facie I am of the opinion that petitioners cannot be
made to languish behind bars for a longer time and the veracity of
allegations leveled against them can be tested during trial.
21. Accordingly, petitioners are directed to be released on bail
forthwith in this FIR case upon their furnishing personal bond in the
sum of Rs.20,000/- each, with one surety each in the like amount, to
the satisfaction of the trial court, subject to the condition that
petitioners shall not directly or indirectly influence the witnesses or
tamper with the evidence and they will appear before the court as
and when directed.
22. It is made clear that any observation made herein shall not
influence the trial court on the merits of the prosecution case.
23. With aforesaid directions, these petitions are allowed and
accordingly disposed of.
24. A copy of this order be transmitted the trial court and Jail
Superintendent concerned for necessary compliance.
(SURESH KUMAR KAIT)
JUDGE
March 16, 2021
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