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Court Allows Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad To Visit Delhi For Elections, Medical Reasons

Additional Sessions Judge at Tiz Hazari Kamini Lau said elections were the biggest festival of democracy and Azad should be allowed to participate in it.
Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad during a press conference at Indian Women's Press Club, on January 17, 2020 in New Delhi, India.
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Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad during a press conference at Indian Women's Press Club, on January 17, 2020 in New Delhi, India.

A Delhi court, which had earlier slammed the Delhi police at Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad’s bail hearing last week, has now allowed him to enter the city fir the upcoming Delhi elections and for medical reasons.

Additional Sessions Judge at Tiz Hazari Kamini Lau, who has harshly critiqued the Delhi police, was quoted by Live Law as saying on Tuesday, “In democracy when election is the biggest celebration, which should have maximum participation, it is fair that he should be allowed to participate.”

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Azad was arrested on charges of inciting the crowd at Delhi’s Jama Masjid during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

The judge made the remarks while modifying an earlier order where Azad was granted bail.

The court had earlier restrained Azad from visiting Delhi for four weeks and directed him to not hold any ‘dharna’ till the elections in the national capital, while granting him bail in the case.

According to the Live Law report, Azad will have to inform the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) every time he visits the city and will have to live in the address he mentions in the application.

This comes after the court had blasted the Delhi police saying, “What is wrong with dharna? What is wrong with protesting?”

“You are behaving as if Jama Masjid is Pakistan. Even if it was Pakistan, you can go there and protest. Pakistan was a part of undivided India,” the judge had said.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.