In its order, the court also put on record the alleged response of Delhi Police in handling the complaint. (Express Archive) A Delhi court has granted interim bail to Jamia Millia Islamia University student Asif Iqbal Tanha, facing trial in a UAPA case in connection with the Northeast Delhi riots, to appear for his compartment exam of BA Persian (Hons), stating that leniency must be shown to him.
Tanha has been enrolled in the course since 2017. He is slated to graduate in 2020 subject to securing passing marks in certain compartment exams. He sought interim bail for one week from Monday for “the purpose of preparing for and attending the exams…”
Tanha has six backlog papers, out of which three have been announced and notified for compartment examinations by the university. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat observed: “The court is of the opiníon that if the accused wants to appear for the compartmental examination, the passing of which is necessary as precondition for his admission to MA Persian course for which he had already appeared, leniency must be shown to the accused by allowing him to appear for the said examination”.
“Due to the pandemic, nationwide lockdown, restricted movement of individuals and limited functioning of Tihar jails, the applicant has not been able to access the required reading material…He does not also have access to a computer so as to be able to prepare for his backlog examinations…,” Tanha’s lawyer Sowjhanya Shankaran told the court.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad told the court, “Even grant of a few days interim bail will culminate into an order short of regular bail without examining the merit of the matter qua the present applicant.”
