Delhi High Court directs transfer of more Markaz cases to Saket court

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed for the transfer of some more cases related to foreign nationals booked for attending a religious congregation at Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamuddin Markaz to a Saket court here.

In an order dated August 21, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambani directed the prosecution that the chargesheets filed in connection with different FIRs against such foreigners shall be transferred from different lower courts to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of South-East Delhi at the Saket district courts.

The High Court also directed that the said matters be dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

During the course of hearing, the bench had noted that seven petitions pertaining to FIRs registered at police stations in Shastri Park, Wazirabad, PS Welcome, and Chandani Mahal etc -- wherein the Metropolitan Magistrate had declined cognisance -- have been kept pending for instructions on behalf of the state before disposing the same.

The Delhi government's senior standing counsel (Criminal) Rahul Mehra submitted that the state has no objection to court directions in all these cases as had been made earlier on a batch of petitions that were transferred to a Saket court.

Advocates Ashima Mandla and Mandakini Singh told the High Court that in cases arising from the said FIRs, multiple charge sheets have been filed against the petitioners.

In some of these matters, cognisance had been taken and some petitioners served summonses, whereas others matters are pending at different stages.

Meanwhile, the Centre told the court that Look Out Circulars (LoC) were opened by the Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, on the request of Delhi Police. Once the criminal cases are closed, the Union government will close the LoCs and facilitate the petitioners to leave the country, Centre's counsel Ajay Digpaul and Satya Raj Swain said.

So far, the High Court has transferred 15 FIRs related to foreigners in the Nizamuddin Markaz incident reported in March.