HC denies bail to DySP lynching accused

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Sept 4: High Court in a mob lynching of police officer in 2017 refused to grant bail to one of the accused involved in the offence and observed that the gravity of the offence and the circumstances in which the same has been committed need to take into account.
The applicant-accused Mohammad Waseem had approached the court through the medium of the appeal under Section 21(3) of the National Investigation Agency Act challenging therein the order dated 12.05.2021 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, TADA/POTA (Special Judge Designated under NIA Act), Srinagar, whereby his bail application was dismissed.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sanjay Dhar while dismissing the bail plea of the applicant-Waseem recorded that the case in hand  is a case where a young police officer has been lynched to death by a mob of miscreants of which the appellant is alleged to be a part, thereby putting the humanity in general and spirit of Kashmiriyat in particular to shame.
“Bail in such heinous and serious offences cannot be granted as a matter of course. For the foregoing reasons, we do not find any merit in this appeal and the same is, accordingly, dismissed”, DB concluded.
The accused Waseem along with others is facing trial in killing of DySP Mohammad Ayoub Pandit by lynching him to death as they caught hold of deceased police officer who had been deployed in the area to supervise the manpower for access control at Jamia Masjid Srinagar on the occasion of Shabe Qadar.
The deceased as per the charge sheet was beaten up, dragged and lynched to death by the mob, of which the appellant-Waseem was a part. His pistol was also snatched and the dead body was dragged and left at Nowhatta.