A Delhi court has dismissed the bail applications of a man and his son who were arrested in a case related to the vandalising and burning of a mosque during the northeast Delhi communal violence in February.
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav dismissed the applications of Mithan and his son Jony Kumar considering the gravity of the allegations against them.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
The court said in its July 17 order that the allegations against both the accused were that they were not only participants in the unlawful assembly, but were taking active part and instigating other people in the Khajuri Khas area.
It said that Kumar and his father were also involved in 12 other cases in the vicinity of the area where more than 50 houses and shops were vandalised, looted and put on fire.
"The investigation in the matter is still in progress after the video footage of the burning of the 'Fatima Masjid' surfaced on social media," the court noted.
Advocate Amit Gupta, appearing for the father-son duo, told the court that they have been falsely implicated in this case and there are no allegations against them in the FIR.
The lawyer said Kumar's mother was visually disabled and she has been suffering due to their absence for the last three months.
They were also victim of the riots in which their house was damaged, Gupta claimed.
Mithan had lodged a complaint in this regard at a police station on February 28 and when they visited for enquiry about it, they were arrested and falsely implicated in another case of rioting, he claimed.
There is no CCTV footage in which they can be seen rioting in the area, Gupta claimed.
Special Public Prosecutor Jenender Jain, appearing for the state, opposed their bail applications saying they were allegedly part of unlawful assembly, and along with others had allegedly shouted slogans, looted and burnt many houses of a particular community in the locality.
The public prosecutor claimed that they were actively with the rioters involved in vandalisation, rioting and arsoning of public and private properties, including the Fatima Masjid.
He argued that several video footage showing the episode of burning of the mosque have been received. These are being analysed, Jain said.
The co-accused persons are yet to be arrested and further investigation in the matter is in progress, he said.
The eye witnesses who have deposed against them are his immediate neighbours and if released on bail at this stage, then they can threaten them, the public prosecutor claimed.
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