Court grants five-day custody parole to 2020 riots accused

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted five days of custody parole to AIMIM’s Okhla candidate, Shifa ur Rehman, to contest and campaign for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai allowed Rehman’s release from January 30 to February 3 for 12 hours each day, subject to a Rs 2.07 lakh security deposit.

“Although the present case and the case in which the co-accused Mohammad Tahir Hussain has been granted custody parole by the Supreme Court are altogether different, still when the Supreme Court has declined the interim bail of the co-accused and only granted custody parole to him, this court should also follow the same,” the court stated.

Rehman has been behind bars since April 2020. He was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly being a key conspirator in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots, which claimed 53 lives and more than 700 people were left injured.

At the time of his arrest, he was the president of the Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association.