New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) A Delhi court Wednesday granted bail to a man in a case related to north east Delhi riots, saying the prosecution has relied on identification of a witness whose statement was recorded after filing of the charge sheet.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav said though the investigative agency was within its right to record statement of any witness even after filing of main charge sheet, if specific evidence comes within its domain.

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However, the judge said the court cannot lose sight of the timing, which was after almost three months from the date of incident.

The court granted Salim Malik bail on furnishing a bond of Rs 20,000 with one surety of like amount in the case of alleged vandalism and torching of a car showroom by the riotous mob on February 25 in Dayalpur area.

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It said the witness Zahid Hasan has not levelled specific allegations of putting on fire the showroom in question by the accused and his statement was a general one.

“The prosecution in this case is opposing the bail application of applicant (Malik) on the strength of his categorical identification by prosecution witness Zahid Hasan as also on the identification of applicant by Beat Constable Mukesh. Admittedly, by the time the statement of this witness under section 161 (examination by police) CrPC was recorded, the main charge sheet in the matter had already been filed in the court.

“Even in his statement, Zahid Hasan has not levelled specific allegations of putting on fire the showroom in question by the applicant and the same pertains to incendiary speeches being delivered by the riotous mob. Be that as it may, prima facie, his statement appears to be general one… however, on the basis of the statement, applicant cannot be made to incarcerate in jail for infinity in the present matter,” it said in its order.

The court added the identification by Constable Mukesh was hardly of any consequence, as it was not able to understand as to why he waited till Salim's arrest in the case after eight months from the incident, to name him, when he had categorically seen and identified the accused indulging in riots on February 25.

It said there was no CCTV footage of the incident available on record and there were no specific allegations against him in the case.

It directed him not to tamper with evidence and install the “Aarogya Setu” app in his mobile phone.

Malik is also an accused in two separate cases related to the riots — Head Constable Ratan Lal murder and the larger conspiracy case.

Communal violence had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 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)