Guwahati: Gauhati High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Subodh Biswas, the main accused in last year's Silapathar violence case, almost one-and-a-half years after his arrest.
Biswas, the national president of the Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanway Samitee (Nibbuss), was arrested from Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on March 22 last year.
He was arrested in a case related to the ransacking of an All Assam Students' Union office at Silapathar in Assam's Dhemaji district on March 6 by a mob allegedly instigated by him. Since then he had been in judicial custody. Eight persons had suffered injuries in the Silapathar incident.
Biswas was granted bail by a bench of Justice Mir Alfaz Ali. His counsel M. M. Ansari said the court granted him bail on the grounds of parity with other accused in this case, who have been released on bail.
Ansari said of the 54 accused facing trial at the Dhemaji district court in this case, all were granted bail earlier, barring Biswas. "While granting bail, the high court also considered his period of detention, which was nearly one-and-a-half years," he said.
"The court turned down the objection filed by the state government expressing apprehension that he may tamper with evidence or jump bail." The high court, however, imposed certain conditions. He cannot leave Dhemaji district without permission of the trial court, will not tamper with evidence or try to influence any witness and appear in the court on each date without trying to delay the proceedings.
The police had filed the chargesheet against Biswas and other accused at a Dhemaji court in June last year under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 427 (mischief causing damage), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), 307 (attempt to murder), 448 (house trespass), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty) of the IPC and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi criticised the state government over Biswas securing bail from the high court.
