A Delhi Court granted bail to eight Muslim men accused in a case registered in connection with the ban on Popular Front Of India.
The Court said that the city police has not been able to show sufficient evidence to justify how the accused persons carried out the alleged unlawful activities when they were in custody from 27 September and remained in Tihar Jail till 3 October or 4 October, Live Law reported.
The Muslim men were already in preventive custody when the ban on PFI came into effect and were arrested again, soon after their release from Tihar Jail, noted Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Khanagwa.
“The IO has not been able to show sufficient incriminating material against the accused persons collected during the investigation that as to when accused persons were in custody from 27.09.2022 and remained in Tihar Jail till O4.10.2022 or 03.10.2022, then how the accused persons have carried out such an activities which are aimed at advocating, abetting or inciting/assisting any unlawful activity of unlawful organization,” read the Court order.
The Muslim men are Mohd Shoaib, Abdul Rab, Habeeb Asghar Jamali, Mohd Waris Khan, Abdullah, Sheikh Gulfam Hussain, Mohd Shoeb and Mohsin Waqar, according to Live Law.
All the eight men had been detained under Section 107/151 CrPC on 27 September. While Shoaib, Rab, Jamali and Waris were released from preventive detention on 2 October, Abdullah, Hussain, Shoeb and Mohsin were released on 4 October.
However, the four Muslim men were arrested on 3 October and other four men were arrested on 5 October in an FIR was registered at Shaheen Bagh Police station on September 29 on the basis of apprehension of acts to be done by the members of “unlawful association.”
The Police claimed flags of PFI alognwith pamphlets reading ‘PFI Zindabad’ were recovered from them.
On the Delhi Police’s argument that Call Detail Records of the accused persons are to be analysed, the Court said they are already in the possession of the Investigation Officer “and even from that also, nothing could be shown to prove that the accused persons were involved in unlawful activity from the date of declaring PFI as unlawful organisation till their arrest in the present case,” Live Law reported.
