Tahir Hussain's brother gets bail; court says name of witness 'deliberately kept'

New delhi: Noting that the "name of the witness was kept deliberately in this case as there was no other independent witness", a Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to principal accused Tahir Hussain's brother Shah Alam in connection with a case related to the northeast Delhi riots.

The present matter relates to a case registered at Dayalpur police station regarding the use of Hussain's building by alleged rioters as well as the commission of acts of arson and looting of public and private properties.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav in his order noted, "In this case, only one witness namely Shri Jai Bhagwan has been added. I have been taken through his complaint…it appears that the name of this witness has been kept deliberately in this case, as there was no other independent witness therein."

Alam's lawyer told Millennium Post that the court had pulled up the Delhi Police for failing to locate a witness in the case and as a result had resorted to planting a witness. He claimed the police had added witness name just because they could not find any other independent witness to give the statement they wanted.

ASJ Yadav also observed that the statement of public witness Shri Radhe Kishan has been recorded in the matter on August 12, "almost after the expiry of 5-and-a-half months of the date of the incident, which prima facie appears to be an omnibus one."

Granting bail to Alam, represented by Advocate Dinesh Tiwari, the court also questioned the testimonies of the beat constables which were given March 6, whereas the incident took place on February 25, terming them "hardly of any significance."