New Delhi: After the prosecution interviewed the cited eyewitnesses, the Karkardooma Court in Delhi released a guy on bail for a murder charge from the North-East Delhi riots of 2020.
Also, the court ordered Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora to remind all IOs that they have an obligation to help the court in an impartial fashion.
Additional Sessions Rishabh Chaudhary's bail hearing before Judge Pulastya Pramachala involved rioting and the alleged murder of a man in the Gokulpuri area in 2020.
Mushraff's body was discovered in a sewer on February 27, 2020, close to Johripur Pulia in Gokalpuri.
The autopsy revealed 12 exterior wounds, and the death was attributed to blunt force trauma to the head.
“… cited eyewitnesses have been examined, but they did not establish the incident in question. The other two remaining witnesses did not claim having seen any person in the mob. In view of my above mentioned observations and the present situation in the case, I find the applicant to be entitled to bail,” the judge said in the order.
“Hence, bail application is allowed and applicant Rishabh Chaudhary is admitted to bail, on his furnishing P/B and S/B in the sum of Rs 30,000 each with one surety in the like amount,” the court ordered.
The judge added that in addition to summarising the investigation, the Investigation Officer (IO) also made reference to a statement from an eyewitness who, according to the prosecution, had successfully identified and named the rioters.
“In the description of exact evidence against the applicant, the IO has simply mentioned the name of the cited and relied upon alleged eyewitnesses. In the concluding part of the reply, IO mentioned that the trial of the case is in advance stage and during the same, one witness had positively identified the applicant. However, IO has not mentioned the name of such witness, which according to him identified the applicant,” said the judge.
“The witness categorically stated that he had not identified any one in the mob on February 24, 2020 and on February 25, 2020, he did not come out of his home at any point of time. He also stated that he did not mention the name of any person as a member of the mob seen by him on February 25, 2020, before the police, nor did he identify any one before the police,” the court said.
While the court noted that this witness's statement was recorded in the presence of Special PP and IO, it was noted that IO made no mention of this witness's statement in his or her reply.
“… hence, once again I call upon the Commissioner of Police to do the needful for proper sensitisation of all the IOs in this respect,” the court ordered.—Inputs from Agencies