2020 Delhi riots UAPA case: Delhi court allows accused to attend kin's wedding

A Delhi court has allowed a man, accused in a terror case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots to attend his sister’s wedding.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai was hearing the bail plea of Shadab Ahmad, an accused in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act case being investigated by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. Ahmad sought 20 days of interim bail to attend his sister’s wedding at his ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh.

In an order passed on October 18, the court said, “Applicant was arrested in the present case on May 20, 2020, and since then has been in judicial custody.” The applicant had previously moved a plea seeking regular bail and another application for interim bail but both these applications were dismissed.

The accused was granted the relief from October 29 till November 5 upon furnishing a personal bond and surety bond of Rs 20,000 each.

Ahmad’s plea stated that being the family’s eldest son, he had an important role in the wedding ceremony, and that his father was the sole earning member of the family and a senior citizen.

The plea further stated that his younger sibling was a student and there was no chance of him fleeing as his family had been living in their ancestral village for many generations.

The prosecution’s response confirmed the wedding was on November 2 but contended that Ahmad “was not a permanent resident of Delhi” and had “no roots in the society”.

Twenty people, including activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, were booked under the UAPA and several provisions of the IPC for their alleged roles in the February 2020 violence that left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.