3-judge Bench to hear Tahir’s interim bail plea for election campaigning

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has set up a three-judge Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath to hear former councillor and February 2020 Delhi riots accused Tahir Hussain’s petition seeking interim bail to campaign in the upcoming Assembly polls in the Capital.

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The Justice Nath-led Bench – which also included Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Mehta – will take up Hussain’s interim bail plea on Tuesday – January 28.

The new Bench has been constituted in view of a split verdict delivered by a Bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah on Hussain’s interim bail plea on January 22.

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

Noting that the right to contest elections was not a fundamental right, Justice Mithal pointed out that the right to contest the elections has been protected by the High Court’s order by granting custody parole to Hussain to file nominations. Granting interim bail on this ground can open a “Pandora’s box” as every undertrial would take this ground, Justice Mithal said.

However, disagreeing with him, Justice Amanullah allowed Hussain’s interim bail plea, saying it was a question of creating a “level playing field”.

“This is a matter of life and liberty...that is why we have listed day-to-day...why have you not completed trial in (last) five years? Just examined four out of five eye-witnesses? Charge sheet was filed on June 2, 2020… All this has to be looked at. You can’t castigate somebody like this… He (Hussain) has not been out of jail even for a day in five years. We can’t shut our eyes. What is Article 21 of the Constitution for?” Justice Amanullah wondered.

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 had 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.