War in the Middle East echoes in Delhi’s trial courts: With flights stopped, here’s how judges are factoring in the disruption
Fighting between Iran and US-Israel has led to a judge passing an interim bail order in the Red Fort blast case; another judge has given a dowry accused more time to appear before court.
Last Saturday (March 7), a Delhi court granted two weeks’ interim bail to Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of Al Falah University, so that he could accompany his wife to a chemotherapy session on March 12. The court cited the “war in West Asia” as the reason for granting the relief.
Siddiqui is under investigationfor alleged money laundering after the Faridabad-based university came under intense scrutiny following the November 10, 2025 car explosion outside Red Fort. The blast in which 15 people were killed was linked to several individuals who were closely associated with Al Falah.
All of Siddiqui’s children have been living in the UAE since 2017. With no commercial flights operating between India and most of the Middle East, they have been unable to travel back to the country. Since Siddiqui himself is in jail, there is no one from the family to look after his wife, who is suffering from cancer.
“Due to the prevailing condition of war, it cannot be expected from the children of accused/ applicant to visit India for the chemotherapy of the wife of the accused/ applicant scheduled for 12.03.2026,” Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan of Saket court said in her order.
Siddiqui had told the court that his wife, Usma Akhtar (52), was suffering from stage IV metastatic carcinoma of the ovary, and was undergoing chemotherapy at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi.
“…The wife of accused/ applicant requires care and support, cannot be ignored and it is also a fact that she does not have her family or children besides her and it is only the accused/applicant being her husband who is required to give her support,” the court said.
Siddiqui was arrested on November 18 last year. Three doctors at the Al Falah School of Medical Sciences & Research Centre are the focus of the ongoing investigation into the alleged terrorist module. The Union government has ordered a forensic audit of all university records.
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Siddiqui’s oldest son has a business in the UAE. His other children are students in that country.
Siddiqui’s case isn’t the only one in which the war between Iran and the United States and Israel has been considered by courts in Delhi to grant relief to an accused person. The war has been ongoing for almost two weeks now, and a Karkardooma court this week granted more time for an accused to appear before it.
Forty-year-old Sanjay Kumar, who faces accusations of cruelty and harassment for dowry, was scheduled to appear in court with a surety. He appeared via video conferencing, and his advocate, Manish Bhadauria, cited the “ongoing war in the Middle East” as the reason for his inability to appear in person.
Kumar, who lives in Kuwait, has been accused of offences under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), and a section of The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (penalty for demanding dowry) in a 2021 case filed in Karawal Nagar police station.
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The Magistrate Judge accepted Bhadauria’s request, and gave the date of May 28. “Time sought to furnish the bail bonds of accused no. 1 on the ground that he has been unable to travel to India from Kuwait on account of the current unrest in the Middle East. Accused no. 1 is directed to file his bail bonds on NDOH (next date of hearing). Put up for bail proceedings and arguments on charge on 28.05.2026,” Judicial Magistrate First Class (Mahila Court) Rishika Srivastava said in her order dated March 9.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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