‘Such persons should be barred from contesting’: SC on Tahir Hussain’s bail plea for Delhi polls

In no immediate relief to the 2020 national capital riots accused Tahir Hussain, the Supreme Court on Monday adjourned hearing on his petition seeking interim bail for campaigning ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.

Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has fielded Tahir Hussain as a candidate from the Mustafabad constituency.

A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah could not take up Tahir Hussain's special leave petition for hearing due to paucity of time but listed the matter for hearing on January 21. When mentioned for urgent hearing, Justice Mithal-led Bench remarked: “It is easy to win elections sitting in jail. All such persons should be barred from contesting the elections."

Last week, the Delhi High Court turned down Tahir Hussain’s plea for interim bail but granted him parole to enable him to file nomination papers for the upcoming Assembly polls.

As per the order of the Delhi High Court, Tahir Hussain, while out on custody parole, will not have any access to the phone or the Internet, will not interact with any person except the officials concerned in the nomination process, and will not address the media.

Further, family members of Hussain may remain present, but they would not be permitted to click photographs of the filing of the nomination or to post the same on social media, the court order had said.

Disposing of Hussain's plea for interim bail, a bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna ruled: "Merely because the Applicant/Petitioner had earlier been a Municipal Councilor, cannot be a peculiar circumstance entitling him to grant the Interim Bail.

"Considering the antecedents, nature of allegations and having regard to the totality of circumstances, he (Hussain) is granted Custody Parole for subscribing the oath and to complete the formalities in respect of filing his Nomination Papers," it said.

On January 14, the Justice Krishna-led Bench reserved its decision after hearing the arguments raised by senior advocate Rebecca John, representing the former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor, and Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, who appeared on behalf of Delhi Police.

Opposing Hussain’s interim bail plea, ASG Sharma said that the AIMIM candidate, facing "gruesome allegations", may file his nomination papers from Tihar jail or under custody parole.

Sharma added that there is no fundamental right to contest elections and if released on interim bail, Hussain may influence witnesses.

"We are conceding that custody parole be granted to facilitate him to file nominations. Like others he can also contest,” he said, referring to the former councillor's involvement in several criminal cases, including under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act).

On the other hand, senior advocate John pleaded that Tahir Hussain be released on interim bail, from January 16 to February 9, for filing nominations and for the election campaign.

John repeatedly laid emphasis that Hussain be temporarily released for campaigning. Tahir Hussain’s counsel argued that the former AAP councillor should be released on interim bail since he needed to file nomination papers physically and give a true account of his assets.

The counsel cited the interim bail granted to Jammu and Kashmir leader Engineer Rashid, accused in a terror funding case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), for election-related purposes.