Bombay HC Grants Bail To Underworld Gangster Dawood Ibrahim's Aide In 2020 Extortion Case After 5 Years' Detention

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Tariq Parveen, a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, in a 2020 extortion case, taking into account his prolonged incarceration of over five years without conclusion of trial.

Justice Milind Jadhav on May 8 said Parveen has been in jail for five years and there is no possibility of the trial concluding in the near foreseeable future. “Detaining an undertrial prisoner for such an extended period further violates his fundamental right to speedy trial flowing from Article 21 of the Constitution,” the court said.

The bench added that detaining an undertrial person in prison for a long period only serves to legitimise the award of “Surrogate Punishment” to that person without trial which amounts to pre-trial punishment, HC said.

Parveen was arrested on February 9, 2020 under the provisions of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and Indian Penal Code in connection with an extortion case.

After his bail was rejected by the special MCOCA court, he approached the HC through advocate Ravi Dwivedi. He sought bail on the grounds of long incarceration and non-completion of trial in the foreseeable future.

State’s advocate Mahalakshmi Ganapathy argued that Parveen was the main accused and part of an organised crime syndicate. She expressed concern that “if bail is granted, there is every possibility of the applicant re-offending, tampering with evidence, and influencing witnesses.” She also cited his past criminal antecedents and the serious nature of the charges.

However, the court found the long pre-trial detention untenable. “It is one of the principle rules of criminal jurisprudence that an accused is innocent until proven guilty. This rule cannot be taken lightly, especially when liberty of an undertrial accused person has been at stake for over five years,” Justice Jadhav said.

Parveen’s complicity in the crime can certainly be proved at the trial after adequate evaluation of evidence and if found guilty then he will face the appropriate punishment, the court added.

“At this prima facie stage, I am inclined to consider the applicant’s application for bail solely due to his long incarceration pending trial coupled with parity,” Justice Jadhav said while directing his release on furnishing a surety of Rs 25,000. Pursuant to the grant of bail, Parveen was released from the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday.