In a significant development in the 2020 North-East Delhi riots conspiracy case, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday posed a pressing question to the Delhi Police: "How long can a person be kept in jail?" The bench was hearing the bail plea of Tasleem Ahmed, who has spent five years in custody under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A division bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar raised the question during the hearing, prompting a larger debate on prolonged incarceration without trial.
"Five years have gone by. Even arguments on charge have not completed. In matters like this, 700 witnesses, how much time a person can be kept inside?" – High Court Bench
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The court was hearing arguments from Advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing on behalf of Ahmed. He emphasized that his client was arrested on June 24, 2020, and despite being in jail for five years, he never delayed the trial even for a single day.
"I have not taken even a single day adjournment. I also depleted my defence. I didn’t even press my Section 207 CrPC application," – Advocate Mehmood Pracha
Pracha argued that other co-accused in the same case, such as Devangana Kalita, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and Natasha Narwal, had been granted bail back in 2021 on the ground of delay in trial, after spending around one year and two months in custody.
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He further mentioned that while only five co-accused had completed their arguments on charge since October last year, Ahmed completed his arguments in just one day, within 10–15 minutes.
However, SPP Amit Prasad, appearing for the Delhi Police, responded by stating that the prosecution cannot be held responsible for the delay, citing trial court orders documenting adjournments sought by other accused. He also argued that Ahmed’s bail rejection by the trial court had attained finality, with a prima facie finding of his involvement in the case.
"The special judge has already made a prima facie finding on Tasleem’s involvement in the conspiracy," – SPP Amit Prasad
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In a notable shift, Advocate Pracha later withdrew his argument on parity with other co-accused, focusing solely on the delay in trial as the main ground for bail.
"I am not pressing grounds argued by other co-accused. My sole argument is delay in trial and the fact that Ahmed has been in custody for five years without a single delay from his side," – Advocate Mehmood Pracha
The High Court is expected to resume the hearing tomorrow at 10:30 AM.
This case stems from FIR 59/2020, filed by the Delhi Police Special Cell, invoking serious charges under the Indian Penal Code and UAPA. A coordinate bench is concurrently hearing bail pleas of other co-accused, including Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Shifa-ur-Rehman, and Khalid Saifi, among others.
Title: Tasleem Ahmed v. State