Delhi Communal Violence: Jail for Pregnant Safoora, Bail for 'Gun Supplier' Sirohi

How can a person who was found in possession of illegal arms during a riot be granted bail in a riots case when others from whom nothing was recovered are still behind bars?

Nature is messy and cruel, more so at its perimeter with humankind.

Note (May 15, 6:05 pm): Though both Safoora Zargar and Manish Sirohi are being

proceeded against under FIR 59/2020, which is being handled by the Delhi Police Special Cell, there are in fact two FIRs of the same number which the Special Cell is handling. The first is dated February 27, 2020, and relates only to Manish Sirohi, and the second is dated March 6, which relates to Safoora and some others. In an earlier version of this story, both FIRs bearing the same number were erroneously treated as one.

Consider the case of two people arrested by the Delhi Police in the aftermath of the Delhi riots of February 2020.

One is a pregnant Muslim woman, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia with no prior involvement in any criminal activity. She is taken into custody six weeks after the violence had ended. No arms and ammunition were recovered from her at the time of arrest.

The other is a Hindu man who the police claims has been supplying arms for the past two years, buying weapons and cartridges from Madhya Pradesh and then bringing them to Delhi. He was arrested even as the violence in Delhi was on and the police say they recovered five pistols and 20 cartridges from him. Many of the 55 people killed in the violence died of gunshot wounds.

Both are arrested by the Special Cell and incidentally both are booked under FIR No 59. It now emerges that the Special Cell is currently investigating two FIRs of the same number ie FIR 59 and here is where the contrast in their treatment becomes glaring. The pregnant woman is arrested under FIR-59 of March 6, 2020- registered by the Crime Branch which was then transferred to the Special Cell. The arms dealer is arrested under FIR-59 of February 27, 2020 – registered by the Special Cell itself.

The woman, Safoora Zarfar, ends up getting charged under India’s anti-terrorism law, the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and has been in jail now for one month without the prospect of bail. This, despite her condition and the heightened risk of being exposed to the coronavirus in Delhi’s overcrowded prison system.

The man, Manish Sirohi, is charged only under the Arms Act, even though he was arrested during the riots and found in possession of illegal arms. And on May 6, a Delhi court grants him bail, citing the risk to him of contracting COVID-19:

‘Therefore, keeping in view the above facts and circumstances and also the fact that spread of COVID-19 pandemic is on high rise and there is always a risk of the applicant being infected with the said virus in case he is left to be confined in jail, the applicant is admitted to bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000/- with one surety of the like amount to satisfaction of the Court of Ld, CMM/Ld. ACCMM/Ld. MM on duty as per the roster prepared by the Ld. District & Sessions Judge, PHC, New Delhi.”

Two FIRs expose double standard

The contrasting fate of Safoora and Sirohi, lawyers say, strengthens the perception that the Delhi Police has adopted a ‘political’ approach towards the Delhi violence, ignoring the role of BJP leaders in making inflammatory speeches while going after anti-CAA activists.

Safoora, who was active in the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, was arrested under FIR-59 of March 6, on April 13. The Delhi police have also arrested another Jamia student, Meeran Haider, the president of the university’s alumni association, Shifa-ur-Rehmani, and two other anti-CAA activists, Khalid Saifi and former councillor Ishrat Jehan, under the same FIR.

FIR 59 of March 6 was registered on the complaint of a sub-inspector who claimed an informer told him that the communal violence which took place in Delhi from February 23 to 25 was part of a pre-planned conspiracy to incite riots in the capital during US President Donald Trump’s visit in February this year.

The FIR was registered by the Crime Branch under IPC sections 147, 148, 149 and 120(B), which relate to rioting, armed with deadly weapon and unlawful assembly. After the case was transferred to the Special Cell, charges of conspiracy to commit murder (302), attempt to murder (307), sedition (124 A), promoting enmity between different communities on grounds of religion (153 A) and sections of the Arms Act were added.

FIR 59 of February 27 was registered by the Special Cell after it arrested Manish Sirohi along with two others. PTI reported that during interrogation the duo told the police that they had been supplying arms for the last two years. They used to purchase weapons and cartridges from Madhya Pradesh and supply them to Delhi.

Terrorism law brought in, for FIR on riots conspiracy

Around April 20, the Special Cell added sections 13, 16, 17 and 18 of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to FIR-59 of March 6. These sections pertain to the offences of ‘unlawful activity’, the commission of a terrorist act, collecting funds for a terrorist act and conspiracy for committing a terrorist act.

After the addition of UAPA charges to the FIR, the possibility of the accused being granted bail diminished significantly because of the pre-conditions that come with the anti-terror law.

Section 43D, sub section 5, of UAPA says that no person accused of an offence under this act can be released on bail or on his/her own bond unless the public prosecutor makes a case for the such release.

Even then, if the court is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against such persons are prima facie true, the court shall deny bail.

Also Read: Selectively Quoting His Speech, BJP MPs Blame Umar Khalid for Delhi Riots

Facing UAPA charges under FIR 59 of March 6, Safoora Zargar, who is more than three months pregnant, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Khalid Saifi and Ishrat Jehan are currently lodged in jail.

In stark contrast is the case of arms dealer Manish Sirohi who was granted bail by the Patiala House Court on May 6. The bail order, uploaded on the court website, shows that Sirohi had been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on February 26, 2020 and then booked under FIR 59/2020. While detailing the case, the bail order states that 5 pistols and 20 cartridges were recovered from him at the time of his arrest:

“As per the allegations, the applicant as well as the co-accused Zahid were both apprehended by the officials of the Special Cell on 26.02.2020 on some specific information and 20 pistols and 80 cartidges are stated to have been recovered from the possession of co-accused Zahid and 5 pistols and 20 cartridges were recovered from possession of the applicant Manish Sirohi. The applicant is in custody in the case since the above date and it has also been reported by the IO that investigation has been completed and chargesheet stands already filed in the concerned court on 25.04.2020. No previous involvement of the applicant in any other case has also been reported by the IO.”

The end result: Manish Sirohi, who was found in possession of 5 pistols and 20 cartridges at a time when Delhi was witnessing communal violence, is allowed bail.

Not much of a ‘conspiracy’

Legal experts say there is a clear anomaly here. Sirohi is arrested during riots and found to be in possession of illegal arms but is only booked under the Arms Act but students booked, two months after the riots, are booked under UAPA. So if Sirohi is not being charged with terror, despite the arms and ammunition recovered from him, what is the basis of charging others with UAPA? How can the bail application of a person who was found in possession of illegal arms during a riot go uncontested when others from whom nothing was recovered still be lodged behind bars?

Dr. Anup Surendranath, executive director of Project 39A, a criminal justice programme at National Law University, Delhi, sounds a worrying note about FIRs being filed based on conspiracy theories and the arbitrary manner in which bail is being granted to a select few.

“The ever-increasing popularity of these omnibus FIRs among investigating agencies must worry anyone who values the rule of law in our constitutional democracy,” he said. “We saw it being used in the Bhima Koregaon cases and now we see it being used in the Delhi communal violence cases. Construction of these conspiracy narratives in these FIRs with barely any factual or legal basis, just facilitate arbitrary arrests under draconian laws like the UAPA. With diluted procedural protections and longer custody durations without a chargesheet, laws like the UAPA are perfectly suited to be used by the state against dissenters. What is perhaps even stranger, is people being arrested for a conspiracy and then just picking one of them to be released on bail for no legally valid reason. To be clear, bail must be given as much as possible, but if it becomes an arbitrary exercise based on legally extraneous considerations, very strong concerns of unfair discrimination arise.”

Manisha Sethi, who teaches at Nalsar University of Law and has authored Kafkaland: Law, Prejudice and Counter Terrorism in India, says the UAPA’s chief characteristic is its arbitrariness such that its application is left to the discretion of the police.

“UAPA allows subjective bias to enter right from the time of registering of crime, investigation, prosecution and adjudication. It is a law that enables subjective bias. So for similar crimes it is up to the executive – the police, investigating agency or the government – to decide whether to use the anti-terror law or the ordinary criminal law since the definition of terrorism itself is so vague,” she said. “The law enumerates a range of activities that could qualify as a terror act, but the same offences can be tried under ordinary law as well. What is central in the definition of terror act is the  ‘intention to strike terror’.  It is entirely up to the police to decide whether to invoke the Arms Act in one case and to deploy terror charge in another case.”

Sethi said that “despite recovery of material evidence at the time of arrest (in Manish Sirohi’s case) and despite the fact that there is no specific charge against others except reference to some vague conspiracy , one is booked and then granted bail under the Arms Act, and the latter under UAPA, where bail is stringent and near impossible.”

She added that as numerous studies of the workings of anti-terror laws show, “the might of the anti-terror law falls mostly on the marginalised communities, especially the minorities, who are cast as the nation’s other.”

Apart from the contrasting charges levelled by the police – UAPA for Safoora, the Arms Act for Sirohi – the continued detention of a pregnant woman in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic is also cause for concern.

Several countries including India are issuing special guidelines for pregnant women and how they should be kept safe during the pandemic. During previous virus outbreaks like SARS, MERS, Ebola and Zika, pregnant women were found to be vulnerable as they experienced adverse pregnancy outcomes. Taking a cue from past studies, pregnant women have been declared as a ‘high risk group’. So far, however, neither the Delhi Police nor the courts have taken note of Safoora Zargar’s pregnancy and the risk she and her unborn child are being forced to confront as an undertrial.

Note (May 15, 6:05 pm): Though both Safoora Zargar and Manish Sirohi are being proceeded against under FIR 59/2020, which is being handled by the Delhi Police Special Cell, there are in fact two FIRs of the same number which the Special Cell is handling. The first is dated February 27, 2020, and relates only to Manish Sirohi, and the second is dated March 6, which relates to Safoora and some others. In an earlier version of this story, both FIRs bearing the same number were erroneously treated as one.

But then what about Safoora Zargar?

WhatsApp University will never tell us who Safoora Zargar is or why she matters. She is a sociology student at Jamia Milia Islamia. And is now in the first trimester – a critical period in her pregnancy.

On April 10 this year, she was arrested for having taken part in a protest against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, that has caused such a huge stir in the country because it makes religion a criterion for preventing a refugee from acquiring Indian citizenship.

Safoora was not arrested because she was involved in any act of violence, or because she was in possession of arms and ammunition, or because she has a criminal record. No, none of them. She was arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA – and thrown in prison for no other reason but that she was an outspoken critic of CAA and mobilised others to peacefully oppose the law – as they have the democratic right to do. In other words, Safoora was arrested only because she exercised her right to dissent.

Even according to the yarn the Delhi police has spun, the only concrete charge against her is that she supposedly helped block a road during a demonstration. That’s it. But because the police have linked that demonstration – where no violence occurred – to events separated from it in space and time that she had no role in and claimed they are all part of one grand conspiracy to engineer riots in Delhi, the sessions court refused to grant her bail.

While the oppressive provisions of UAPA make bail well nigh impossible, what makes its denial particularly barbaric is that a pregnant woman has been shoved in an overcrowded prison system during the time of a pandemic. This despite the recognition, worldwide, that pregnant women are in the category of those with “increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus”. In India, the ICMR’s guidelines note that “pregnancy itself alters the body’s immune system and response to viral infections in general, which can occasionally be related to more severe symptoms and this will be the same for COVID-19”.

What makes the situation even more farcical is the fact that while a pregnant woman remains in jail without bail despite her lack of direct or indirect involvement in any act of violence, a man caught red-handed during the Delhi violence of February 2020 with weapons had no problem securing bail. Ironically, the fact that there is a pandemic was an additional factor in his release.

One also remembers the case of Union minister Anurag Thakur who led a crowd of supporters in late January as they chanted “shoot the traitors” – a slogan directed at anti-CAA protestors. Despite this clear and present act of incitement to violence, the police has not found it necessary to arrest him, let alone proceed against him under the anti-terror law.

One also remembers the incendiary speeches and direct threats of violence by local BJP leader Kapil Mishra. Unsurprisingly, he too was neither arrested nor charge-sheeted. When Justice Muralidhar of the Delhi high court asked the police to take a decision on registering an FIR, the judge himself ended up getting transferred and the solicitor general told his successor the “condition is not conducive at the moment” to proceed against Mishra.

One couldn’t have written a dystopian script better. The minister who incited violence, the politician who barked out hate speeches, the gun smuggler caught red-handed are sitting pretty, while the judge who tried his hand at justice was transferred, and most importantly, a pregnant woman was cruelly thrown in an overcrowded jail during COVID times for exercising her right to dissent.

So why has the outrage and empathy gone missing here in the case of this pregnant woman? Why did the celebrities and politicians not raise a hue and cry? Why did social media not seethe with righteous anger? Was it a fear of retaliation from the authorities, or perhaps a studied silence by the mainstream media, or was it that the issue didn’t quite have the right optic? Perhaps it was a bit of everything.