How bench changes have meant unending bail proceedings in the Delhi riots case
Long delays in bail are, in theory, against the law. But they are still common in practice.
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On August 29, the Delhi High Court bench of Justices SK Kait and Girish Kathpalia had fixed for final hearing on October 7 the bail applications of seven Muslims accused of conspiring to give effect to the 2020 Delhi riots.
However, on September 21, Kait was transferred by the Union government to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, where he was appointed the Chief Justice.
With this, the bail applications of the seven co-accused will have to be heard all over again before a new bench of the high court. This is the third time this will happen in two and a half years.
A Scroll analysis found that the bail applications of eight Muslims accused in the conspiracy case have been listed at the High Court several times since 2022 – with the number of listings ranging between 45 for one case and 72 for another. Yet, they have not been decided in spite of arguments being heard out by two different benches of the court, due to the judge leading the bench hearing the case being transferred out of the High Court.
The result of this has been the accused serving out long periods in jail, which goes against the Supreme Court’s directive regarding bail applications being decided expeditiously.
