“Mere presence” not enough for jail: Court grants bail to six accused in Turkman Gate Case

New Delhi: A Delhi court has granted bail to six men accused in the Turkman Gate stone-pelting case linked to last month's demolition drive near the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque, observing that "mere presence at the spot—without material showing active participation — could not justify continued custody at the pre-trial stage."Additional sessions judge Bhupinder Singh on Wednesday granted bail to Mohd Faiz, Mohd Affan, Shazad, Mohd Imran, Mohd Faheem and Mohammad Imran on furnishing personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each.
The court noted that while any attack on police officers was "wholly condemnable", the prosecution must independently establish the specific role of each accused. The judge said the material on record "does not conclusively establish such individual attribution" at this stage. The court observed that the prosecution relied on identification by injured policemen and certain video footage. However, it found that the footage "does not conclusively establish the identity of the accused, as the facial features are not distinctly discernible". The judge added that the FSL report was awaited, and the identification by injured officials, though relevant, would require evidentiary scrutiny during trial to determine its reliability. APP Atul Srivastav opposed bail, submitting that the accused were present in violation of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and deliberately targeted police personnel, facing charges including attempt to murder. The defence argued that the intent was to stop the demolition and not to harm policemen, and said the accused were Delhi residents with no flight risk, and therefore, no further custody was needed. Judge Singh noted that the accused "were not apprehended from the spot but arrested later during the investigation, and that the available material required careful scrutiny". He also said most witnesses were official and the evidence largely documentary and electronic in nature, reducing the possibility of interference in the probe. Invoking parity with 12 co-accused granted bail on Feb 16, the court said there was "no distinguishing feature" in the present applicants' roles and rejected the plea for further custody. The case stems from violence during an anti-encroachment drive near a mosque in the Ramlila Maidan area on the intervening night of Jan 6–7, after social media rumours about demolition near Turkman Gate led to a gathering. Police alleged that 150–200 people pelted stones and bottles at police and MCD staff, injuring six policemen, including the SHO. On Jan 24, another accused, Mohd Ubaidullah, was granted bail by Judge Joginder Prakash Nahar on grounds of natural proximity to the site.