A single bench of the Delhi High Court on Thursday transferred the Delhi Police’s appeal against bail granted to former Congress councilor Ishrat Jahan, in the alleged larger conspiracy case behind the 2020 Delhi riots, to a division bench.
Justice Anu Malhotra was hearing the appeal by the police challenging the order granted bail to Jahan. Further, the matter will be heard on July 11 before the bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar, which currently deals with the bail appeals of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.
On March 14, a lower court granted bail to Jahan in a case related to the alleged larger conspiracy in the 2020 Delhi riots.
Granting bail to the accused, Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat noted that “she was neither physically present in Northeast Delhi for riots nor was she part of any group.”
Ishrat Jahan was arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell on February 26, 2020, and was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and the Arms Act.
As per the prosecution, Ishrat Jahan was in touch with other accused with whom she had no connection and the same was only to further the object of conspiracy to commit riots.
Police had stated that Ishrat Jahan was protesting against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the Khureji Khas area on February 26, and “instigated” the large crowd to stay put after the police asked them to vacate the road. The police claimed that due to her instigation, the crowd pelted stones on security personnel.