Take your freedom from the cage you are in: Judge pens poem to grant bail to Delhi riots accused

In a rare event, a Delhi judge has shown poetic self by writing verses to grant bail to an accused in riots that rocked the northeast parts of the city in February this year.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat allowed bail to accused Babu on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and an equal amount of surety in a case of a victim, Rahul suffering gunshot injuries, after noticing that the injured had given a fake address during the medical and remained untraceable. The court noted that the other accused Imran was already granted similar relief.

The excerpts of long poem that the judge wrote:

I have heard, heard a lot.
Mind is clear, with claims tall;
Its my time to take a call.
Babu has a sordid past;
Proof is scant, which may not last.
His omnipotence can't be assumed;
Peril to vanished Rahul, is legally fumed.
Take your freedom from the cage you are in;
Till the trial is over, the state is reigned in.
The State proclaims; to have the cake and eat it too;
The Court comes calling; before the cake is eaten, bake it too.

Accused Babu, with a bad antecedent history, was arrested on April 8, 2020 for the offence committed on February 25 on the basis of a purported identification by constable Satish who is claimed to have been posted at Maujpur Red Light.

"Apart from the identification by Satish as the applicant being involved in rioting at near Maujpur Red Light towards Jaffrabad on February 25, there is nothing much that has been brought on record. He stands on even a better footing than Imran who is already enlarged on bail in this case," the court said.

The Judge directed the accused not to leave Delhi without prior permission, not influence any witness or tamper with evidence and attend proceedings on each date.