Delhi riots: Court grants bail to man as no evidence against him yet

A Delhi court has granted bail to a man in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi in February, saying prima facie there appeared to be no evidence against him till date.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav granted the relief to Rohit on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 20,000 each with a surety of like amount in the case of rioting and torching of an auto-rickshaw during the riots in Karawal Nagar area.

"At this stage, it cannot be held that the applicant (Rohit) was not part of any unlawful assembly which might have torched the shops and houses in the adjoining area as well, but prima facie there appears to be no evidence on record in this regard, till date. The investigation in the matter is complete. The charge sheet has already been filed," said the court in its order passed on August 20.

It directed him to maintain peace and harmony in his locality and not tamper with evidence in the case.

The court further directed the accused to install 'Aarogya Setu App' in his mobile phone and to appear before it on each and every date of hearing to attend the proceedings in the case.

The court, however, clarified that anything stated in the order should not be construed as expressing any opinion on the final merits of the case, as it was at the pre-cognizance stage.

During the hearing held through video conferencing, advocate Amit Singh, appearing for Rohit, told the court that complainant Monish had reported the matter to the police on February 29 but his auto-rickshaw was allegedly set on fire by a riotous mob on February 24.

The advocate further argued that there was no CCTV footage of the alleged incident and nothing has been recovered from the accused.

Special Public Prosecutor Nitin Rai Sharma opposed the bail application saying complainant clearly identified the accused which showed that he had allegedly taken 'active part' in the riots.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.