Shahrukh Pathan, who pointed a gun at a policeman during the anti-Hindu riots in North-East Delhi in 2020, was refused regular bail by a Delhi court on 14th December. The court stated it observed no need to grant him bail and Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat of Karkardooma Court noted, “Considering the conduct of the accused Shahrukh Pathan in jail during his judicial custody, his conduct prior to his being arrested, conduct during court proceedings and most importantly, the allegations against the accused which are being supported by the eyewitnesses and also the video footage, on any of the counts on which bail can be considered, the court sees nothing to set him enlarged on bail.”
The judge highlighted that Shahrukh Pathan was seen firing at the head constable at the location in a video that was captured by a journalist during the rioting and went viral on social media. “The video and the deposition of the witnesses also shows the entire conduct and the manner in which accused Shahrukh Pathan attacked and fired at HC Deepak Dahiya.”
The court proclaimed, “In all the footage shown, the accused Shahrukh Pathan can be seen constantly arguing with the Jail Staff.” This came about when the perpetrator filed an application claiming that jail staff had physically and verbally abused him. It mentioned, “In fact, to add to the conduct of the accused, Tihar Jail Authorities had also pointed out that earlier while being in judicial custody, a mobile phone was recovered from his possession inside the jail for which a punishment ticket was handed to him.”
The court also revealed that the accused behaved aggressively while incarcerated and even committed acts of violence. It remarked, “Another instance of 10.02.2023 was highlighted by the Jail Authority and CCTV footage was shown by Law Officer Abhijeet Shankaran and was played in open court to allege that the accused Shahrukh Pathan with another co-inmate was again found outside his ward where he was mingling with 3 other hardened prisoners/criminals but was supposed to be in high-Risk Ward and from the shadow, he could be seen intentionally thrashing and beating up a UTP Bunty and then bandaging him. The said Bunty, thereafter on the next day made a complaint to the Jail Inspecting Judge that he and Shahrukh Pathan had been badly beaten, tortured and harassed by the Tihar Jail Superintendent and it was only on the production of this CCTV footage in the court, that the said application was not pursued.” OpIndia has a copy of the judgement.
Shahrukh Pathan faces charges for several offences, including inciting unrest and encouraging animosity between various groups through unlawful assembly. The instance resulted in an FIR filed in 2020 at the Jafrabad Police Station. The case concerns an occurrence during the riots in which he was seen aiming a revolver towards a police officer.
It was submitted under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc), 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (Disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) 307 (Attempt to murder), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 120B (Criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code along with Section 27 (Punishment for using arms, etc) of Arms Act. Proceedings under sections 147, 148, 149, 186, 188, 153A, 283, 353, 332, 323, and 307 of the India Penal Code were pressed against him in December 2021.
Charges against him and the other culprits in the FIR were framed by the trial court in December 2021. Additionally, it found a man guilty of harbouring Shahrukh Pathan in violation of Section 216 of the IPC even though he had freely entered a guilty plea to the allegation brought against him.
On 7th October, he was released on bail in a case involving injuries to multiple police officers and a gunshot wound to Rohit Shukla amid the conflict between pro- and anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) demonstrators. Nevertheless, he stayed in jail since he had not requested bail in the case brought against him for pointing a gun at a cop.
The judicial underlined that Shakrukh Pathan had given a co-accused a note including a phone number during a judicial procedure. It added that he had once vanished from the jail and that he had been seen fighting and clashing with both guards and other prisoners as well as possessing a cell phone. The Court refused his request for bail due to these factors, the gravity of the accusations made against him and the existence of a recording showing him pointing a gun at a police officer.
