Majlis candidate Tahir Hussain gets 12-hour daily parole to campaign for polls

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted custody parole to former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Mohammad Tahir Hussain permitting him to come out of jail to campaign for 12 hours every day beginning Wednesday till February 3 , on the strength of an undertaking that he would bear the expenses associated with such custody, estimated at a little over Rs. 2 lakh per day. 

The order of the court came on a plea filed by Hussain seeking interim bail till February 4 in one of the cases against him in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi riots where he is accused of instigating the murder of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma. He sought permission to canvas for votes in the Delhi assembly polls to be held on February 5 as an All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate from Mustafabad constituency.

A three-judge bench headed by



justice Vikram Nath said, “Considering the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case we issue direction that the petitioner be released for the day as per timing prescribed in the Jail Manual from January 29 till February 3 upon the deposit of expenses for two days... ₹2,07,429 per day approximately.” These expenses included the cost of the police personnel, escort vehicle and the jail van in which Hussain will be ferried around.

The court also took an undertaking from Hussain not to visit his original home at Karawal Nagar or make any comments or address any press conference about the cases against him. He was permitted to visit the AIMIM office and address meetings within his constituency. He was directed to make an advance deposit of expenses for two days at a time, with the first tranche to be paid by 6 pm on Tuesday.