On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court granted bail to Farman, one of the convicts in the 2014 Nido Tania murder case, a 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh.
The bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait observed that the convict Farman has ‘already undergone around seven years of jail term out of the ten years’ sentence awarded by the trial court, and granted him interim bail for a period of three months, subject to his furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 before the Jail Superintendent.
“It is not in dispute that the appellant/applicant (Farman) has already undergone around seven years of the sentence out of ten years sentence awarded by the trial court. Therefore, I hereby grant interim bail for a period of three months as prayed for,” noted the bench.
Justice Kait also clarified that the “period of three months shall be reckoned from the date of release of the applicant and after the expiry of three months, the applicant shall surrender before the Jail Superintendent concerned.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has opposed Farman’s bail plea saying that there are serious allegations against him and the applicant’s regular bail application was dismissed by the court vide order dated 23rd March.
Nido Tania, who was then 20-year-old, was the son of former Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh was beaten up by several shopkeepers in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar on 29th January 2014, after a verbal spat. He was declared dead of severe head and lung injuries on arrival at AIIMS, the following day.
Tania’s family and friends alleged that the accused shouted racial slurs at him and made fun of his hair. Tania then destroyed a glass counter in anger. This led to a fight in which he was seriously injured.
Subsequently, the trial court had convicted Farman as the main accused under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and common intention, and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 20,000. Two other accused, Pawan and Surender, were sentenced to seven years and a fine of Rs 20,000. The fourth accused, Sunny Pal, was sentenced to three years.
In the wake of the incident, seven advocates from north-eastern states were empanelled by the Delhi State Legal Service Authority to provide free legal assistance to the people of the northeast staying in Delhi.
