The Delhi High Court will have to hear the bail applications of four accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots for a third time in two years. The bail pleas for Abdul Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima, Md Saleem Khan, and Shifa Ur Rehman were filed separately starting in March 2022. Their lawyers have presented arguments twice before two different benches, but neither bench has issued a verdict due to the presiding judges being appointed as Chief Justices of other High Courts.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, who led the most recent bench, was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday, necessitating a fresh hearing of the case before a new bench, according to a report by Indian Express.
In April 2022, a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar started the hearing of the bail applications and reserved its orders for all four cases: for Saifi on January 5, 2023; for Fatima on February 13, 2023; and for Khan and Rehman on March 6, 2023. The bail pleas of two other accused, Athar Khan and Shadab Ahmad, were also extensively discussed. Both sides had completed their arguments, but a rejoinder from the accused to counter the prosecution’s claims had to be submitted.
On July 5, 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Mridul for appointment as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court. His appointment was officially announced on October 16, 2023, and he took the oath of office four days later, leaving no order on the bail applications before he left. So the cases had to be heard afresh by a new bench.
In November 2023, the cases were assigned to a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Shalinder Kaur, which heard them for the first time on November 1, 2023. However, another bench with the same roster, comprising Justices Prathiba Singh and Amit Sharma, was unable to hear the cases, as Justice Sharma had previously served as the NIA’s special public prosecutor in the High Court.
A roster change in January 2024 designated a new bench of Justice Kait and Justice Manoj Jain to handle criminal appeals, including the bail applications, which they heard four times between January and May 2024. Despite the lawyers for the accused making oral requests for the bench to reserve orders following the conclusion of their arguments, the bench continued to hear additional related bail applications without issuing any orders.
On July 11, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Kait for the position of Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. However, while this recommendation was still pending with the Centre, another roster change in the Delhi High Court led to the cases being assigned to a bench comprising Justices Kait and Girish Kathpalia, specifically tasked with the bail matters related to the Delhi riots. Yet, this bench did not hear the cases, the IE report said.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court Collegium revised its recommendation, proposing Justice Kait for the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court instead of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. This updated recommendation was approved by the Centre on September 21, and Justice Kait took the oath of office as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday.
“My client was arrested in March 2020 and the court has neither framed charges against him nor commenced trial in the case. His bail plea was first filed in the HC in May 2022, and we have to now argue it for a third time all over again. This chronology itself is unconscionable. The right to a speedy trial and the right to be granted bail are constitutional rights,” senior advocate Rebecca John, who appears for Saifi, told The Indian Express.
