The Supreme Court on Monday, October 26, declined to modify the bail conditions imposed on Delhi riots larger conspiracy case accused Shadab Ahmad, who sought permission to travel to Ghaziabad to attend law classes, allowing him to withdraw his plea with liberty to approach the trial court, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing Ahmad's application seeking relaxation of the condition barring him from leaving the National Capital Territory of Delhi without prior permission of the trial court. He had also sought permission to mark his attendance at the Delhi Police Crime Branch office once a week instead of twice, on Mondays and Thursdays, LiveLaw reported.

Source: LiveLaw

Ahmad's counsel told the bench that he had secured admission to a three-year law course in Ghaziabad and was seeking to pursue his education as part of his "reformation". He said classes had commenced in August and Ahmad was falling behind, adding that he would travel in the morning and return by evening, ANI reported.

Justice Kumar questioned whether Ahmad had first approached the trial court and refused to relax the conditions. "Go tell the trial court. This we will not modify... We know why you have joined that law college, leaving out all the law colleges inside Delhi," the judge remarked, according to ANI. When counsel submitted that the trial court could not modify the attendance condition imposed by the Supreme Court, the bench maintained its position and counsel sought permission to withdraw the application.

Ahmad was granted bail on January 5 along with co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman and Mohd Saleem Khan, and a Delhi court subsequently ordered his release on January 8, ANI reported. He is an accused in the larger conspiracy case linked to the February 2020 north-east Delhi riots; the charges against him are allegations that remain to be tested at trial, and the court expressed no view on their merits in this order.