Man who pointed gun at police during CAA protests in Delhi gets bail

Karkardooma court grants bail to Shahrukh Pathan, accused of causing injuries to police personnel and gunshot injury to Rohit Shukla during anti-CAA protests in Delhi. ASJ Rawat noted Pathan's conduct before/during trial and custody was atrocious but allowed bail as witnesses are all police officials and co-accused on bail.

The Karkardooma court on Saturday granted bail to Shahrukh Pathan, who took part in the anti-citizenship law protests here in 2020 in which a viral photograph showing him pointing a gun at a policeman led to his arrest.

He was accused of causing injuries to several police personnel and a gunshot injury to one Rohit Shukla during the clash that erupted between protests pertaining to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in February 2020 here.

Mr. Pathan will continue to be in jail as he is also an accused in another case in which he is stated to have made an attack on the life of the police official.

The bail was granted by Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Amitabh Rawat who observed that the court is conscious of the fact that the conduct of the accused before arrest and even during trial and judicial custody has been atrocious, but took the decision as he has been in judicial custody since April 03, 2020.

“...the stage of the prosecution evidence, where public witness/injured Rohit Shukla has been examined and relevant remaining witnesses are all police officials and all other co-accused persons are on bail, the present bail application of accused Shahrukh Pathan is allowed,” the court said.

The counsel for the accused submitted in the court that the statement/allegations of Mr. Shukla does not inspire confidence as his statements on different dates have marked discrepancies and his deposition in court has improvements. It was further argued that the police witnesses are planted witnesses.

The public prosecutor had strongly opposed the bail and cited evidences like CCTV footage, mobile location and testimonies of witnesses against the accused. The public prosecutor also submitted in the court that the accused person’s father had also served a jail term for possession of contraband charas and his family has a history of criminal cases.