Chaini Parwani-
Published On: October 06, 2021 at 18:02 IST
The Delhi High Court granted bail to an Accused who has spent more than 12 years as an undertrial in the 2008 Delhi Serial Blasts Case and stated that Courts must not attend to Constitutional Rights only after they are dead.
A Bench Comprising of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani stated, “Instead we must play doctor and save such rights from demise before they are extinguished. Courts should pro-actively step in to protect such rights from being stifled and buried.”
Hakim is accused of having carried a certain amount of cycle ball-bearings from Lucknow to Delhi which, according to the Police, were eventually used to make IEDs used in the 2008 Blasts.
Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan and Advocate Warisha Farasat, representing Hakim stated “His right to speedy trial is being violated and he deserves to be released on bail during the pendency of the trial.”
The Police had highlighted that Hakim was accused with grave and despicable offences in the case in which 26 people died and there were 135 casualties.
The Prosecution also highlighted that the Supreme Court in Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali Judgment has directed the Courts to not enter upon the merits or demerits of the proof in a Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case and decline the bail in view of Section 43-D(5) of UAPA.
Although, the Division Bench said that the imprisonment of more than 12 years suffered by the accused in custody as an under trial would assuredly qualify as a long enough period for the system to admit that his Right to Speedy Trial continues to be overcomed.
“In the present case, if the State plans to seek the capital sentence for the appellant, it is, therefore, all the more necessary that the appellant be afforded a speedy trial; failing which, the appellant deserves at least to be given back his liberty after more than 12 long years of imprisonment as an undertrial since it cannot be ignored that as of now, the appellant has undergone punishment for more than a decade of his life, for an alleged offence for which he has not yet been found guilty,” reads the Order.
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