New Delhi: The Delhi High Court granted bail to student activist Safoora Zargar Tuesday, who was arrested in connection with the Northeast Delhi riots case.
The court passed the order after the Delhi Police did not oppose the bail on humanitarian grounds, in a reversal of its earlier stand. The police had earlier resisted bail stating that Zargar’s pregnancy did not dilute the gravity of the offence alleged against her.
Justice Rajiv Shakdhar granted her a regular bail and she has to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000. The court also directed her not to indulge in “activities she is being investigated for”.
Zargar was arrested on 10 April and has been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for her alleged role in the Northeast Delhi riots that broke out in February. An M.Phil. student from Jamia Millia Islamia, Zargar is more than four months pregnant and had requested bail on grounds of her pregnancy.
In the court order, she was also “refrained from hampering investigation”, and she cannot leave Delhi without the leave of the trial court.
The bail conditions also require her to remain in touch with the investigating officer and call him or her up once in 15 days.
Her bail order, the court clarified, shall not be cited as a precedent either in this case or in any other case.
“Showing exemplary fairness, the prosecution has agreed to bail to Zargar on the above conditions,” the judge noted in the order.
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State has no problem with Zargar’s bail: SG Tushar Mehta
Appearing for the Delhi Police, a team of special counsel, led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and advocates Amit Mahajan and Rajat Nair, said that without going into the merits of the plea and without considering this as a precedent, “The state has no problem with Safoora being released on bail, provided she doesn’t indulge in activities for which she is under probe.”
The court also declined to open the sealed cover documents — related to the investigation — submitted by the police and chose to return it to the solicitor’s office.
Earlier, the Delhi Police had opposed grant of bail to Zargar, who is the co-founder of the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC). According to the police, the committee is one of the leading groups involved in organising sit-in protests preceding the communal violence in Northeast Delhi.
In its status report before the high court, the police had said her pregnancy cannot be a ground for bail as it does not mitigate the offence committed by Zargar.
Zargar, it had submitted, was receiving adequate medical care in Tihar jail where 39 deliveries took place in the last 10 years.
The police’s affidavit, signed by P.S. Khushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, had also stated that Zargar should have kept a check on her activities during her pregnancy.
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