Republic Day violence accused actor Deep Sidhu granted bail in 2nd case

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu in a case related to damage to Red Fort during the tractor rally on Republic Day. It, however, pulled up the Delhi police over "highly questionable" manner of arresting the accused on April 17, a day after he got bail in a related case of violence.

"Such vicious and sinister action of investigative authorities amounts to playing fraud with established criminal process and shows scant regard to constitutional protections enshrined, protected and cherished under the Constitution," Metropolitan Magistrate Sahil Gupta said.

The court said further incarceration of the accused would be unjustified, as he has been interrogated in police custody for 14 days and has already been in custody for about 70 days.

It allowed bail to Sandeep Singh Sidhu alias Deep Sidhu on furnishing of a personal bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 with one surety of like amount.

Delhi police, for its part, opposed the granting of bail to Sidhu saying the present case was of very sensitive in nature involving damage to Red Fort property, which was a symbol of national pride. It alleged that the accused was the main conspirator who continued to instigate the riotous mob.

"During the riot at Red Fort, a total of 167 individuals sustained injuries, out of which 144 were policemen.The riotous mob carrying spears, swords, lathis etc indulged into such act of terror, that created mayhem at Red Fort and sabotaged government property and also damaged the building of Red Fort, a national heritage site," it claimed.

The defence counsel, however, pointed towards striking similarities between the two cases one in which the accused got bail on April 16 and another in which he was arrested on April 17.

The court agreed to the contention, saying "The sweeping power of investigation does not warrant subjecting a citizen each time to fresh investigation by the police in respect of the same incident."

It said the accused was granted bail but before he could be released, he was arrested on April 17 in respect of same incident at Red Fort.

"The need and timing of the arrest is highly questionable because despite knowing that the accused has been lodged in judicial custody since February 9, 2021, he was arrested only on April 17, 2021, when he was granted regular bail. This clearly suggests that it was an attempt to defeat the bail order and is a grave affront to personal liberty of the accused and runs foul of rights guaranteed under Article 21," it said.

The tractors rally by the farmers taken out to demand repeal of three farm laws had turned violent, leading injuries to several police men and damage to the heritage building.