Another accused seeks bail in 2020 riots case

NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court granting bail to five of the accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, another accused has filed a fresh bail application in a court here, contending that he is facing similar charges as one of them and seeking parity.

The bail application was filed by Salim Malik alias Munna, one of the 11 alleged organisers and speakers of the anti-CAA/NRC meeting against whom the court had framed charges under the offence of criminal conspiracy.

The application moved before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai contends that the Supreme Court had on Monday granted bail to another accused charged under similar charges and that he stands on the same footing.

It said the case by the prosecution against Malik only situates him “as a local operative associated with meetings at the Chand Bagh protest site”, which is as similar to co-accused Saleem Khan who was among those granted bail by the apex court on January 5.

The alleged organisers were Mohammed Saleem Khan, Salim Malik, Mohammed Jalaluddin alias Guddu Bhai, Shahnawaz, Furkan, Mohammed Ayub, Mohammed Yunus, Athar Khan, Tabassum, Mohammed Ayaz and his brother Khalid.

The court listed the hearing on Malik’s bail application for January 8.

Malik was allegedly involved in arson at a car showroom on February 24, 2020, in northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura area. It was submitted that the Supreme Court noted in its bail order that the presence and conduct of the accused persons who were granted bail derive meaning primarily from directives purportedly

issued by others.

“It is further submitted that the applicant (Salim Malik) stands on a similar footing as to the fact in, even in the case against the applicant, there is no material on record to suggest that ‘autonomous authority over the larger conspiracy, nor any material to suggest that the applicant occupied a position from which strategic escalation,” the bail

application read.

The application claimed the activities alleged against Malik in the chargesheet also do not indicate that “he functioned as a conduit between the principal architects and secondary actors beyond his immediate geographical sphere, as observed by the apex Court while granting bail to co-accused Saleem Khan”.

Salim Malik sought regular bail, citing parity with co-accused Saleem Khan, recently granted by the Supreme Court. Of 20 accused, seven, including Malik, remain in prison; conditions include bonds and restrictions on leaving Delhi.