The Delhi High Court on Tuesday questioned the prolonged incarceration of an accused under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a 2020 Delhi riots case, highlighting that even after five years, arguments on framing of charges had not concluded.
A division bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar raised the issue while hearing the bail application of Tasleem Ahmed, who has been accused in the alleged larger conspiracy case linked to the February 2020 communal violence in northeast Delhi.
“Five years have gone by. Even arguments on charge have not completed. In matters like this, 700 witnesses — how much time can a person be kept inside?” the bench asked the Delhi Police, pointing to the extraordinary delay in the pre-trial phase.
Appearing for the accused, senior advocate Mehmood Pracha refrained from arguing on merits, instead relying on the ground of parity and delay. He cited the precedent set by the release of co-accused Devangana Kalita, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and Natasha Narwal, who were granted bail in 2021 on similar grounds.
Pracha stressed that Ahmed, arrested on June 24, 2020, has already spent over five years in jail, despite not being responsible for delays in the proceedings. “He has not caused any delay,” Pracha asserted, adding that the prolonged pre-trial detention violated fundamental rights.
However, Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad rebutted this claim, arguing that the prosecution was not at fault for the delays, and cited several instances where adjournments were sought by the accused.
The bench is expected to continue hearing the matter on July 9.
The February 2020 riots had claimed at least 53 lives and left over 700 injured, marking one of the worst episodes of communal violence in the capital in recent years. The case against Ahmed is part of a wider investigation into the alleged conspiracy behind the violence, which has been criticized for slow progress and prolonged pre-trial detentions under UAPA.
