New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the city police's stand on a plea by former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain seeking regular bail in a 2020 Delhi riots case pertaining to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the violence.

A vacation bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Madhu Jain asked Delhi Police to respond within four weeks to Hussain's appeal challenging a trial court's January 29 order that refused him relief.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju urged the court to grant time to the agency to file its reply.

Listing the matter for hearing on July 14, the bench also gave time to the police to file to Hussain's application seeking to condone a delay of 87 days in filing the appeal.

Hussain and others were booked under the anti-terror law -- Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) -- in the case for being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence erupted during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Activists Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and Umar Khalid, among others, were also booked for their alleged involvement in the larger conspiracy case, which is being investigated by Delhi Police's Special Cell.

On January 29, the trial court denied the relief of regular bail to Tahir Hussain, saying the prima facie case was made out against him in earlier orders, making him ineligible to get bail under UAPA.

According to the Section 43D (5) in the UAPA, the accused person shall not be released on bail or on his own bond if the court, on a perusal of the case diary or the report made under section 173 of the Code, is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against such person is prima facie true.

In its chargesheet, Delhi Police has earlier alleged connections between Hussain and activists Khalid Saifi and Umar Khalid, who were part of a larger group of persons who were organising protests in Delhi.

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Police also reportedly recovered crates containing glass bottles having some liquid filled in them and stuffed with pieces of cloth, which were used or to be used as Molotov cocktails, a large number of bricks and stone pieces and three catapults from the house of Hussain.