Nainital (Uttarakhand): The Uttarakhand High Court's division bench on Monday asked the state government to submit its reply on the bail application of Abdul Malik, prime accused of Haldwani violence, within two weeks. The next date of hearing has been scheduled after two weeks.
The case was heard in the bench of senior Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit today.
Mallik's advocate said that the single bench had rejected his bail application saying, the division bench is hearing the petitions related to this case and asked to go to the division bench. While the state government had said that serious cases like UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) are registered against the accused, he said. Under the NIA Act, the Sessions Court has the powers of a special court and the order of the Sessions Court can be challenged only in the division bench of the High Court, he added
Opposing this, it was said on behalf of the accused that the Sessions Court is not a special court so a single bench can hear the bail application. It was further said that police are investigating this case. The division bench can hear those cases in which the NIA has investigated and the special court has given a decision on it.
According to the police, Malik is the main accused in the Haldwani violence that broke out on February 8, 2024. The administration and police team had gone to remove encroachment in Banbhulpura area of Haldwani, when incident of stone-pelting, arson and firing took place. The miscreants had surrounded the police station and several vehicles were torched. Many people died on the spot and over 100 others were injured. The police arrested more than 107 miscreants, including Malik.
During the hearing, Mallik claimed that he was not present in Haldwani but was in Delhi when the incident occurred. He claimed that he has been implicated and argued that he should be granted bail since he did not commit any crime and a false case was registered against him.
Malik's bail application was argued by Supreme Court senior advocate Salman Khurshid.
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