HC grants ‘default’ bail to 50 other accused
By Arun Pratap Singh
Nainital, 28 Aug: Even as the state government prepares to hand over investigation regarding alleged illegal property amassed by Adbul Malik, the chief accused in the Banbhulpura (Haldwani) violence, the Nainital High Court has granted bail to 50 accused in the case. The court was hearing the default bail application of 50 accused in Haldwani violence case.
While the Banbhulpura violence and the mob attack on the police officials is a known reality with a lot of video evidence also, strangely, the Police have not been able to file chargesheets against the accused withing the stipulated 90 days and this has led to the grant of bail to them by the High Court today.
It may be recalled that, on Saturday, the division bench of the High Court, comprising senior Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit had reserved the decision after the hearing. The decision has now been announced and the court has overturned the decision of the lower court in this regard, which had denied bail to the accused and had granted additional time to the Police to file the chargesheet in the case. The High Court has observed that the Police have not filed the chargesheet in the case even after 90 days.
The accused, including one of the alleged main perpetrators, Muzammil had filed a default bail application in the High Court claiming it is their right as the Police have failed to file the chargesheet within the required 90 days. The Police have also failed to cite any clear reason for extension of the judicial remand and keeping the accused in the prison without “reason” is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. While the lower court had extended the judicial remand of the accused and also granted time for the Police to file the chargesheet, the High Court has overturned the decision. In the High Court, the counsels for the accused argued that that the extension of judicial remand granted by the lower court is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. The defence lawyers further argued that the police cannot keep their clients in jail without any reason, no matter how serious the charges are against them. The chargesheet has not been presented yet, so they have the right to be released on bail.
On the other hand, the prosecution lawyers argued that the police had sufficient grounds and reasons and that the court has the right to extend the remand. The remand of the accused had been extended as per the rules.
Meanwhile the state government has written to the Enforcement Directorate seeking investigation into the “illegal” properties of Abdul Malik, the main accused of the Banbhulpura violence, who is currently lodged in Nainital District Jail. The Director General of Police has recommended the Enforcement Directorate investigate these charges against Malik.
It is commonly believed in Haldwani that Abdul Malik had illegally occupied the government land of Company Bagh and had illegally carried out plotting in the garden and sold plots to various persons on stamp papers of Rs 100 and Rs 10. He has used this illegally earned money allegedly to acquire other properties as well. The sources claim that the investigation revealed that, since 2017, Abdul Malik has been selling government land on a large scale. The ED is now expected to investigate all the land dealings of Malik.
It has come to light during the investigation that the people to whom the land was sold were also given electricity and water connections though they did not possess legal documents regarding lawful possession of the land. After the investigation, questions are now being raised about many officers who have committed such negligence.
It may be recalled that, on 8 February 2024, miscreants had committed violence during the removal of encroachment from government land in Banbhulpura in Haldwani. The miscreants, mostly from one community, had allegedly attacked the police officials and even tried to kill them by setting afire the Banbhulpura police station. Also, many vehicles were destroyed by setting them on fire. Many people had died in this violence, while a large number of people were injured. The police had arrested 107 miscreants, and Abdul Malik was the main accused of the violence.
Now many of the accused have been granted bail by the High Court.
