Bail at Last: Gulfisha Fatima Walks Free In Delhi Riots Case

Gulfisha Fatima walked out of Tihar on Wednesday, hugged by her family and surrounded by cameras, her emotions clear after years in custody. One of the accused in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case, she was released hours after a Delhi court issued the orders following Supreme Court bail.

Earlier in the day, Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of Karkardooma Courts issued release orders for Gulfisha, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman and Mohd Saleem Khan. The judge accepted their bail bonds of Rs 2 lakh each and issued their release orders. This was after the Delhi Police submitted verification reports regarding the documents and sureties submitted by the accused. The fifth accused, Shadab Ahmed, who was also granted bail by the apex court on Monday, did not appear before the court to furnish bail bonds.

The court noted that all bail conditions had been complied with and passed the orders for their release after Delhi Police submitted verification reports of the sureties and documents.

The Supreme Court on Monday had granted bail to the five accused in question, while imposing 11 conditions on them, including prohibitions on attending rallies or public meetings and on circulating posters, banners or other campaign material in any form. They were directed go execute a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 2 lakh, with two local sureties of the like sum to the satisfaction of the Trial Court.
The Supreme Court had denied relief to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, observing that a prima facie case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was made out against them, but granted bail to the five accused, citing a hierarchy of participation.

With regard to Fatima's case, the top court said she did not exercise independent command, resource control, or strategic oversight over multiple protest sites during the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Restrictions Clause

"The allegation that Gulfisha Fatima mobilised local women and coordinated protest-site logistics, though relevant to the prosecution's case, does not presently disclose that she exercised independent command, resource control, or strategic oversight over multiple protest sites."

"The prosecution itself asserts that directions were conveyed to her by others higher in the asserted hierarchy. In these circumstances, this court finds that the level of attributed agency and control does not justify continued incarceration once the investigative purpose stands substantially fulfilled," the bench said.

Directing the trial court to expedite the process of bail, the bench had imposed 11 conditions and said the misuse of liberty would attract the cancellation of the bail. They have been specifically barred the accused from participating in any public meetings or gatherings and from circulating posts, handbills, posters or banners, whether physically or through electronic or digital platforms. The February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi broke out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), leaving 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.

Procedural Delays

Her lawyer, Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, earlier told the Court that Gulfisha had been in custody for around six years now. She was the only woman who has not been granted bail for allegations similar to and much lesser than those attributed to co-accused Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, who were granted bail as early as 2021. He also submitted that the "great argument" of regime change nowhere appears in the main chargesheet and the four supplementary chargesheet, the latest of which was filed in 2023. 

Singhvi remarked that her bail application was listed 90 times. The matter was not taken up 25 times due to the unavailability of the bench. And 26 times, the matter was renotified. He termed this a “caricature” of the justice system and averred that no public interest would be served by keeping the 32-year-old lady in custody that long. 

Of the 20 accused named in the case, two are still absconding and the remaining 18 had applied for bail in the case in the past. Out of 18, seven are still in prison -- Salim Malik, Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, former Aam Aadmi Party leader Tahir Hussain, Athar Khan, Tasleem Ahmed and Khalid Saifi.