SC grants 6-day custody parole to Tahir Hussain to campaign for Delhi polls

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted six-day custody parole to former AAP councillor and 2020 Delhi riots case accused Tahir Hussain to campaign for the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections.

A three-judge Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath ordered that Hussain would be released for 12 hours during the day between January 29 and February 3 to enable him to campaign in Mustafabad constituency from where he is contesting as an AIMIM candidate.

It means Hussain will be allowed to come out from jail each of the six days for 12 hours under police security and go back to jail during night.

The Bench—which also included Justice Sankar Karol and Justice Sandeep Mehta—ordered Hussain to deposit Rs 2.47 lakh towards security for the first two days of the parole.

Similarly, the security expenses for the next four days would be deposited in advance in two instalments, it ordered.

Hussain would be let out from Tihar Jail for 12 hours each day during the parole period, pending his bail plea before the Delhi High Court, it said, refusing to grant him interim bail.

Hussain is an accused in a case relating to the murder of Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots in which 53 people had died and over 700 suffered injuries in the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020 during the visit of the then US President Donald Trump. The violence had erupted during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

On behalf of Hussain, senior counsel Siddharth Aggarwal earlier urged the court to allow the petitioner to connect with the electorate under police custody as only a few days were left for campaigning.

"The place where my house is alleged to have been where Delhi riots took place. I am fighting for Mustafabad seat and even for staying purposes, I am saying I will not go to the house and will stay in a hotel and provide details," Aggarwal said.

However, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju opposed Aggarwal’s argument, saying his role in the alleged crime was serious. If he was allowed to be released, everybody would fill a nomination form in jail.

But the court asked Raju to seek instructions on what expenses and sort of security would be required and then went on to allow custody parole.

Earlier, a two-judge Bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah had delivered a split verdict on Hussain’s interim bail plea on January 22, requiring the CJI to set up a three-judge Bench led by Justice Nath to adjudicate on the issue.

While Justice Mithal dismissed Hussain’s plea, Justice Amanullah allowed it.