Delhi Assembly elections 2025: Tahir Hussain, an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots, on Wednesday walked out of Tihar Jail for the first time after almost five years. The Supreme Court has granted six-day custody parole to Hussain, who is contesting polls on a AIMIM ticket, to campaign for Delhi assembly elections.
Hussain, who has been named in several cases related to the riots, is contesting the elections as a candidate of Asaduddin Owaisi's party, AIMIM, from the Mustafabad Assembly seat in Delhi. His release on parole has sparked significant discussion in both political and legal circles, raising questions about the timing and implications of his parole.
AIMIM candidate from Mustafabad, Tahir Hussain, met with the locals of his constituency as part of his election campaign.
Tahir Hussain to stay out of jail for 12 hours
Under custody parole, Tahir Hussain will be escorted to his campaign locations by armed police personnel. The Supreme Court, comprising a three-member bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sanjay Karol, and Justice Sandeep Mehta, granted Hussain's plea for parole from January 29 to February 3 to allow him to campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections. The court stipulated that, as per jail rules, Hussain will be allowed to leave jail for only 12 hours each day, from 6 am to 6 pm, with security provided during his movement. This decision enables him to campaign for his party, AIMIM, in the Mustafabad seat while under strict supervision.
The bench said Hussain's custody parole would be subject to the deposit of Rs 2.47 lakh per day as part of security expenses, including the police escort. The court said that Hussain cannot go to his house in Karawal Nagar, which is allegedly the site of riots, and he cannot make any public comments on the merits of the case. The court also made it clear that this order will not be treated as a precedent as it was passed in the "peculiar facts and circumstances" of the case.
53 people died in Delhi riots
On January 14, the Delhi High Court granted Tahir Hussain custodial parole to allow him to file his nomination papers for the Mustafabad constituency, where he is contesting the Delhi Assembly elections on an AIMIM ticket. However, the High Court denied his request for interim bail from January 14 to February 9, citing the serious nature of the allegations against him. Hussain is accused in the case related to the death of Intelligence Bureau employee Ankit Sharma during the riots that broke out in North-East Delhi on February 24, 2020, which resulted in the deaths of 53 people and injuries to many others.
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