Delhi riots: Court grants bail to man for 'humongous delay' in witness statement
India TV NewsA court here has granted bail to an accused in two cases pertaining to the north-east Delhi riots in February last year, noting that the police recorded the statement of public witnesses and recovered the weapon after a "humongous delay" with no plausible explanation. Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav granted bail to 30-year-old Deepak Kumar on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 20,000 and one surety of the like amount on conditions that he shall maintain peace and harmony in the locality and not indulge in any kind of criminal activity. “Admittedly, the applicant is not seen or visible in any CCTV footage,” the session judge noted while granting the bail, adding that the complainants did not specifically identify Kumar in their initial complaints made to the investigating agency and named him only in their supplementary statements. The judge noted, “Even the statements of other public witnesses namely Jai Ram and Abdul Nadir have been recorded in the matter after the lapse of a considerable period of the date of incidents and no plausible or cogent explanation in this regard has come from the side of prosecution for this humongous delay.” The court also alluded to a Supreme Court case last year, wherein it was categorically held that if statements of witnesses are delayed by substantial time, particularly when the witnesses were available with the police, then it casts doubt upon the prosecution story and the accused becomes entitled to bail.