A single judge bench of Justice Sujoy Paul allowed the bail application of the Tablighi members, noted that the Panel Lawyer while opposing the bail application for the State did not dispute that the present applicants are similarly situated and their Criminal Case is arising out of same crime number.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted bail to eight members of Tablighi Jamaat, including six foreigners, who were arrested for offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Disaster Management Act.
The Jamaat’s congregation that was held in March in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi was attended by these accused, and the area had later become a hotspot for spread of coronavirus
According to the Counsel for the applicants, two similarly-situated accused, facing trial arising out of same crime number and for allegedly committing similar offence, were enlarged on bail by the lower court on April 30. Hence the applicant must be released on bail too.
The Court noted that if it is not in dispute that present applicants are similarly situated to two other accused and their cases are arising out of same crime number, it will not be justified to put the present applicants to a comparatively disadvantageous position, and hence the applicants must be released on the same conditions on which bail was granted by the lower Court.
All the accused were booked under various acts, including section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), section 269 (negligence act likely to spread infection disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of diseases) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and also under section 51 of the Disaster Management Act and section 13 and 14 of the. Foreigners’ Act. These accused are being tried for these offences in a lower court in Bhopal.
India Legal Bureau