Allahabad High Court grants bail to two men accused of firing shots at Asaduddin Owaisi

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted bail to the two men who had allegedly fired shots at Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s vehicle during the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections of 2022 [Sachin Sharma And Another vs State of UP]..Justice Pankaj Bhatia said the accused Sachin Sharma and Subham Gurjar had not been named in the First Information Report (FIR) and were linked with the offence only on the basis of the opinion expressed by the Investigating Officer after analysing the CCTV footage.The Court added that in the three statements recorded so far, the names of the accused had not surfaced and that victim as well as the two persons who were with him in the car did not know the accused.“The material of verifying and matching the identity of the persons seen in the CCTV footage with the actual photographs prima-facie appears to be missing from the case diary. Thus, the evidences linking the applicants with the offence in question are prima-facie weak evidences at this stage,” said the Court..However, it also clarified that the same would be seen during trial and any observation regarding the quality of the evidence might have an adverse effect on the trial.While granting bail to the accused, it also noted that they have been in detention since February 04, 2022 and admittedly have no criminal antecedents. .Owaisi’s vehicle was fired upon near a toll plaza when he was travelling from Meerut to Delhi on February 3, 2022. He escaped unhurt but the assailants also fled the spot immediately. An FIR was registered under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of India Penal Code (IPC). The accused had earlier also been granted bail by the High Court in July 2022. However, the Supreme Court later set aside the bail orders and observed that the seriousness of the offence had not been considered by the High Court. The matter was then remanded for fresh adjudication..Opposing the bail, the informant and the victim moved an intervention application before the Court. It was submitted that one of the accused, after grant of bail in 2022, had bragged before the media that he had no remorse and would not apologise at all. The Court was also told that the victim had been issued a warning by the accused in the interview. It was also argued that apart from CCTV footage, the presence of the accused had also been verified on the basis of call detail records by the Investigating Officer. .Considering the arguments, the Court said the interview “prima-facice appears to be in the realm of speech or interview given by applicant no.1 before the telemedia and there being nothing more to suggest that actual threat was issued by the applicant to the victim”.Finding a prima facie case made out for bail, the Court ordered the release of the accused..Senior Advocate Saghir Ahmad and Advocate Rajesh Kumar Mishra represented the accused.Advocate Azim Ahmad Kazmi represented the informant and victim.[Read Order]