NEW DELHI: Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, accused in several cases arising out of the Feb 2020 riots, can file his nomination papers from jail itself, Delhi High Court said on Monday.
The court’s oral observation came in response to a submission by police in response to Hussain’s plea seeking interim bail in a riots-related murder case, citing instances when inmates completed the process of filing their nominations from prison.
“The latest precedent is of Amrtipal Singh,” the senior law officer contended before Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, while arguing that Hussain could file his nomination papers while sitting in jail. However, Hussain’s counsel responded that the jailed lawmaker was chosen by a national party to contest elections and, apart from submitting nomination papers, he also needed to campaign and declare his assets.
He further pointed out that interim bail was granted by the trial court to Rashid Engineer last year for contesting the Lok Sabha polls. It was also emphasised that Hussain was in custody since March 2020 and was in the process of seeking interim bail in two other riots cases.
The high court will continue to hear the matter on Tuesday. Hussain moved court last week seeking interim bail from Jan 14 to Feb 9 to fight assembly polls from Mustafabad constituency on an AIMIM ticket. He sought the reprieve to physically file the nomination form, open a bank account and campaign.
The application forms part of Hussain’s pending bail plea. Hussain, in the plea, said he spent 4.9 years in jail and though the trial has started in the case, only 20 of the 114 prosecution witnesses had been examined. The plea said that he had suffered long incarceration and since there were many witnesses left to be examined, the trial wouldn’t be concluded soon.
The co-accused persons, his plea said, were granted bail by the high court, he said.
