A division bench of the Delhi High Court on Monday recused itself from hearing the habeas corpus plea of Gulfisha Fathima, one of the accused in the case of alleged “larger conspiracy” of the Northeast Delhi riots, observing that her lawyer Mahmood Pracha” Heckling”. “During the proceedings.
A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anoop Jairam Bhambhani further observed that Pracha was seeking to put on record facts which are not in the habeas corpus petition.
Adjourning the matter for further proceedings on Friday, the court said, “In view of the foregoing, we are left with no option but to list the matter before another bench.”
The court, during the first hearing, also said that it refuses to be addressed by a person who does not even know the basics of law. “You are not addressing a rally. You are addressing a court,” the bench said.
Fatima was arrested in this case on April 9 and is currently in judicial custody. He has claimed through his counsel that his custody in judicial custody is “illegal and void” and questioned the validity of the trial court’s order extending judicial remand last year.
The court on Monday questioned the hearing of the habeas corpus petition and observed that Fatima’s brother Akil Hussain had filed a similar petition in 2020 which was dismissed by another division bench. An SLP was subsequently withdrawn against the order of the Bench.
“You cannot file a habeas corpus every time,” the court said, adding that the remand order can be challenged in a properly initiated proceedings.
During the hearing, Pracha also said that there is no remand order. Seeking clarification, the court asked when the remand order was passed. Pracha replied, “I don’t know, nobody told me.”
However, the court asked him whether Pracha had argued that the court could record her statement.
When an apparently desperate court asked, “What’s going on here?” Pracha continued, “Habe corpus, Milord.”
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