Delhi Riots: Delhi High Court seeks response from State in bail plea of man claiming to be schizophrenic

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to the Delhi government and Delhi Police on a bail application filed by Delhi riots accused Mohd. Salman who claimed to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia (Mohd. Salman vs. State of NCT of Delhi)..Single-judge Justice Subramonium Prasad sought response from the Delhi Police and also sought a status report. "Issue notice. Also, place on record the status report in this matter," the Court said.The matter will be heard again on October 21. The petitioner, a scrap dealer residing at Seelampur in Delhi and the sole breadwinner in a family of seven, was arrested from Khajuri Khas in February 2020 and has been in jail for more than a year in connection with the murder of three persons during the riots that rocked the North-East Delhi in February 2020.He was arrested and charged for offences under Sections 302 (murder) 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), and 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups) of the Indian Penal Code.In his plea, Salman contended that he suffers from acute paranoid schizophrenia causing him to hallucinate and have suicidal thoughts and disorganized speech."The petitioner was diagnosed as early as 2011 (in his teenage years), and has been dealing with his medical illness for more than 10 years with the continuous help and support of his loving family, who had regularly been taking him to the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS)," the plea said.Appearing on behalf of the accused, Advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir argued that Salman is a witness in nine different cases."Besides that, there is no evidence against him," Mir submitted. It was also contended that Salman was last examined by his doctor shortly before his arrest and that he requires continuous treatment and strong anti-psychotic medication and family support.A need for greater care and more importantly hospitalization were emphasised in the plea.It was also submitted that Salman was wrongly incriminated in this case on the basis of a 'random video footage', overlooking the road where his home is situated and where he was allegedly identified as a part of a mob, captured in the footage."It would not be out of place to mention here that the concerned video footage is yet to be supplied to the petitioner in non-compliance of the provisions of section 207 CrPC at the end of investigating authorities," the petition stated. .Besides Mir, advocate Kartik Venu also appeared for the accused..[Delhi Riots] Delhi High Court refuses bail to one accused, grants bail to another in Rattan Lal murder case