Bengaluru riots case: HC grants bail to 115 accused as chargesheet not filed

Bengaluru, 17 June 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday ordered the release of 115 accused persons in connection with the violent attack in KG Halli and DJ Halli in Bengaluru on the night of August 11, 2020. The bail was granted under the provision of 'default bail' after a chargesheet was not filed in the specified period. Justice Vishwajith Shetty passed the order allowing petitions filed by Muzamil Pasha and 114 others, who were arrested in the early hours of August 12 2020 by the Bengaluru police. The arrests were made in the DJ Halli and KG Halli area a few hours after the violence subsided in the night.

The High Court set aside an order passed by a Special Court for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), granting 90 more days to complete the investigation without an opportunity of hearing for the accused petitioners. "The order dated 03.11.2020 passed on the application filed by the prosecution seeking extension of time for completion of the investigation and also the order dated 05.01.2021 passed by the Special NIA Court, Bengaluru - CCH 50 - on the application filed by the petitioners under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure are hereby set aside (sic)," the High Court order stated.

The High Court noted that the order passed by the special court was set aside as the accused were not present before the special court nor notified by an application by the NIA that the special court was considering extending the time for investigation.

The NIA took over the investigation into the violence in September 2020. The violent attacks in DJ Halli and KG Halli were carried out by a mob of men who gathered in protest against a Facebook post that was termed derogatory to Muslims. The post was by Naveen P, the nephew of Congress legislator R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, and the mob reacted angrily after police sought time to take action over the complaint made against Naveen's post.The police stations in DJ Halli and KG Halli as well as the MLA's residence in Kaval Byrasandra were attacked.

Muzzammil Pasha, who is now an accused in the case, had approached the DJ Halli police station with a complaint against Naveen at 7.45 pm on August 11. He is a leader of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). The attacks began at 9.30 pm and ended in the early hours of August 12 after MLAs and other senior leaders gathered at the spot. Many of the accused were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).