Shahrukh Pathan withdraws plea alleging assault in jail, to move trial court for early hearing

New Delhi [India], February 9 : One of the northeast Delhi violence accused Shahrukh Pathan on Thursday withdrew his plea in the Delhi High Court alleging an assault on him in the jail premises by officials here.
However, the High Court granted him the liberty to move a plea for an early hearing in a similar plea before the trial court, which listed the matter for hearing on February 28.
Justice Amit Sharma dismissed the plea as it was withdrawn by the counsel of Shahrukh Pathan. The bench granted him the liberty to move an application seeking an early hearing in the case before the trial court.
Shahrukh Pathan's counsel also submitted that no order for taking steps to ensure the safety and security of the applicant or to preserve the CCTV footage has been issued by the trial court.
In view of the submission, the bench said that if a similar plea is pending before the trial court then it would be appropriate for the applicant to move a plea for an early hearing.
Recently, the Karkardooma court discharged Babu Wasim who was accused of supplying illegal weapons to Shahrukh Pathan. The court noted that there was no incriminating evidence, except the disclosure statements of the two accused.
The weapon was allegedly used to fire upon head constable Deepak Dahiya as well as the general public protesting on Seelampur Road during the northeast Delhi riots on February 24, 2020.
On December 7, 2021, the court framed charges against accused persons Shahrukh Pathan alias Khan, Ishtiyak Malik alias Guddu, Shamim and Abdul Shehzad under Sections 147, 148, 186, 188, 353, and 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Section 149 IPC.
Additional charges against accused Shahrukh Pathan for the offence were registered under Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act while against accused Kaleem Ahmed for the offence under Section 216 IPC.
As per the prosecution, accused Shahrukh Pathan was arrested on March 3, 2020, where he disclosed that in December 2019, he purchased a pistol and 20 rounds from Babu Wasim by paying Rs 35,000.
Sharukh Pathan has been facing trial and is lodged in the Tihar jail for allegedly pointing a gun at head constable Deepak Dahiya during the riots in the Jafrabad area in February 2020 during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
According to police, Pathan, after the incident in February, initially kept roaming in the national capital before slipping away to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh's Shamli, from where he was arrested by the Crime Branch later.
In February 2020, clashes broke out in the northeast area of Delhi between rival groups regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act, which led to the deaths of at least 53 people.