Delhi HC denies bail to 2020 riots accused Tasleem Ahmed
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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to 2020 riots accused Tasleem Ahmed in the ongoing “larger conspiracy” case. A division bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar pronounced in open court that his appeal was dismissed, with a detailed order yet to be released.
Meanwhile, a separate division bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur is scheduled to deliver verdicts on the bail pleas of nine other accused in the case.
Tasleem Ahmed was first arrested in April 2020 in a separate case and was subsequently taken into custody in the larger conspiracy case by the Delhi Police Special Cell in June 2020. Eighteen individuals are facing allegations of a pre-planned conspiracy to incite riots in Northeast Delhi between February 23 and February 25, 2020. The offences are registered under the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Arms Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. An FIR was lodged by the Delhi Crime Branch in March 2020, and the investigation is being conducted by the Special Cell.
Among the 18 accused, activist Safoora Zargar was released on bail in June 2020, while another accused, Faizan, secured bail in October 2020. Three other activists, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha were granted bail by the Delhi High Court in June 2021. Former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan was granted bail in March 2022. Another accused, Saleem Malik, was denied bail by the Delhi High Court in April 2024. Former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain remains in custody.
The Special Cell has stated that the riots were the outcome of a months-long “deep-rooted” conspiracy, allegedly hatched following the approval of the Citizenship Amendment Bill by the Cabinet in December 2019. The conspiracy reportedly involved the creation of 23 protest sites operating 24×7 in Muslim-majority areas near mosques and main roads.
