Asking why Tahir Hussain – now a AIMIM candidate from Mustafabad assembly constituency – has been denied bail in a single case, relating to February 2020 North-East Delhi riots, when he has been granted bail in nine other similar cases, the Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for tomorrow (Wednesday – January 22) for hearing his plea for interim bail so that he could campaign in the ongoing Delhi assembly election.

Posting the matter for Wednesday after a brief hearing on Tuesday, a bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked Delhi police to come prepared with its submissions on Hussain’s plea for interim bail for his election campaign.

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Asking why Hussain has been denied bail in a single case related to February 2020 Delhi riots when he has been granted bail in nine other similar cases, the bench said, “In all other 9 cases where he faces same allegations, he has been granted bail and then why not in this one.”

The bench also asked senior advocate Sidharth Aggarwal, appearing for Tahir Hussain, as to why Hussain was pressing for interim bail, instead of a regular bail. “Why are you insisting on interim bail as if elections are the only thing left to be done in life?” the bench said in an observation.

Telling the bench that the regular bail plea of Hussain was pending before the Delhi High Court and the Delhi police did not even file a reply to it, senior advocate Aggarwal told the bench that the main assailants in the case had been granted regular bail.

Hussain, a former Aam Aadmi Party councilor, was granted custody parole by the Delhi High Court on January 14 for filing his nomination from the Mustafabad assembly constituency.

He has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court’s order denying him interim bail to campaign in the upcoming Delhi election.

In the high court, the Delhi Police had opposed Hussain’s plea for interim bail citing the gravity of allegations and stating that he was the main perpetrator in the violence, resulting in the death of several persons.

The high court had said about 11 FIRs were registered against Hussain in connection with the riots and he was admittedly in custody in a related money laundering case and UAPA case.

Hussain was booked in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.

Violence broke out in North-East Delhi on February 24, 2020, leaving 53 dead and several injured.