New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has observed that it is the constitutional duty of the court to ensure there is no "arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty in the face of excess of State power".

The court's observation came while granting bail to six persons, accused in connection with a murder case relating to the 2020 North East Delhi riots.

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The court said it was inclined to grant bail to Mohd Tahir, Shahrukh, Mohd Faizal, Mohd Shoaib, Rashid, and Parvez on furnishing of a personal bond of Rs 35,000 each with a surety of the like amount.

"It is the constitutional duty of the court to ensure that there is no arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty in the face of excess of State power.

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"Bail is the rule and jail is the exception, and courts must exercise their jurisdiction to uphold the tenets of personal liberty, subject to rightful regulation of the same by validly enacted legislation," Justice Subramonium Prasad said.

While the order was pronounced on Tuesday, it was made available on Wednesday.

The high court said the Supreme Court has time and again held that courts need to be alive to both ends of the spectrum, that is, the duty of the courts to ensure proper enforcement of criminal law, and the duty of the courts to ensure that the law does not become a tool for targeted harassment.

The high court said when there is a crowd involved, at the juncture of grant or denial of bail, the court must hesitate before arriving at the conclusion that every member of the unlawful assembly inhabits a common intention to accomplish the unlawful common object.

"There cannot be an umbrella assumption of guilt on behalf of every accused by the court, and every decision must be taken based on a careful consideration of the facts and circumstances in the matter therein," it said.

According to the prosecution, a mob caused vandalism and had put on fire a sweet shop in the Gokulpuri area of North East Delhi leading to the death of a 22-year-old man named Dilbar Negi who sustained burn injuries. Negi used to work in the sweet shop.

According to police, the rioting incident had taken place near Shiv Vihar Tiraha on February 24, 2020, in which accused persons allegedly pelted stones, ransacked, and torched several shops there. Two days later, the mutilated dead body Negi was found from the shop.

An FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Gokulpuri Police Station.

During the earlier hearings on the bail pleas, the prosecution had opposed the petitions saying that while the riots started in the morning and continued till late in the night, it cannot be said that the accused were part of the riotous mob in the afternoon and not during the night.

Communal clashes had broken out in North East Delhi on February 24, 2020, after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 700 injured.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)