A Delhi court has rebuked the accused in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 North East Delhi riots for delaying the arguments unnecessarily, warning them that any delay on their part would be viewed seriously by the court.
The direction was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of Karkardooma Courts on October 4.
The court noted that on the last date of hearing, it had specifically directed day-to-day hearing in the matter and after considering the submissions of the Counsel for the accused that they would make consensus among themselves for addressing arguments in a particular sequence.
Adjourning the matter to October 21, the ASJ said the case was earlier fixed for hearing on October 4 with the consent of the accused only, however, none of the counsels were ready to address the arguments on Friday.
More than sufficient time was given to the lawyers representing the accused, but they were still not ready for arguments, added the judge.
The counsel appearing for accused Tahir Hussain submitted that he was recently engaged in the matter and needed some time to go through the bulky record of the case.
The counsel appearing for accused Asif Iqbal Tanha told the court on Friday that even though it was said that all the lawyers for the accused would make a consensus regarding the order of arguments on charge but the same could not be done due to personal difficulty.
The counsel for Tahir Hussain said that he would start his arguments on the next date, adding that no adjournment would be sought after that.
The counsel for Umar Khalid submitted that he would commence his arguments after the completion of arguments by the lawyer representing Tahir Hussain.
The counsel appearing for accused Sharjeel Imam said that due to some unavoidable circumstances, the counsel for the accused could not make a consensus for addressing arguments but if reasonable time was given to him, no adjournment would be sought in future.
The counsel for accused Ishrat Jahan submitted that he would address the arguments at the end.
The matter pertained to FIR 59 of 2020 registered under various offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The accused in the case include Tahir Hussain, Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan and Natasha Narwal.