2020 Delhi riots: Unnecessary delays in arguments on charge to be viewed seriously, says court

New Delhi: A court here Friday said unnecessary delays in the arguments on charge by the accused persons in the case of alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots would be viewed by it seriously.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai made the observation after noting that the counsel appearing for accused Tahir Hussain, Asif Iqbal, Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Ishrat Jahan sought time to start the argument on charge on behalf of their clients.

"It is surprising that on the last date of hearing the court specifically noted that the matter shall be heard on charge on a day-to-day basis and after considering the submissions of the counsel for the accused persons that they will make consensus among themselves for addressing arguments in a particular sequence and with their consent only, the matter was fixed today for arguments on charge but still none of the counsel is ready to address arguments," the judge observed.

The court sees that more than sufficient time was given but still the counsel are not ready, Additional Sessions Judge Bajpai said.

"The accused persons are warned that the matter should not get delayed further unnecessarily on their part and any delay will be viewed by the court seriously," he said and posted the matter of arguments on charge on behalf of Hussain for October 21.

It is again made clear that the counsel for other accused persons should make themselves ready for their arguments as soon as the arguments on behalf of Hussain are finished and no adjournment will be granted to them on any ground, the judge said.

While Hussain's counsel claimed that he was recently engaged in the case and needed some more time to go through "bulky records", Iqbal's lawyer said she could not address the arguments on charge due to personal difficulty.

The counsel appearing for Umar Khalid told the court that he would address arguments after the completion of submissions on behalf of Hussain.

The advocate representing Sharjeel Imam, meanwhile, submitted that due to some unavoidable circumstances, the counsel for the accused persons could not make a consensus for addressing the arguments but if reasonable time is given to him, he will not seek any adjournment and will be ready to address to arguments.

The counsel for Ishrat Jahan told the court that as the role of his client was not much, he would address arguments at the end.

Communal clashes broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020, after violence between supporters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and those against the legislation spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.