With Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, who headed the bench that last heard the case, taking oath as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh HC on Wednesday, the case will have to be heard de novo (from the beginning) before a new bench.

In April 2022, a bench comprising Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar began hearing the bail pleas. The bench reserved its order in all four cases — for Saifi on January 5, 2023; for Fatima on February 13, 2023; and for Khan and Rehman on March 6, 2023. The bail pleas of two other accused, Athar Khan and Shadab Ahmad, were also heard at length. While both sides completed their arguments, the accused were to submit a rejoinder to rebut the prosecution’s arguments.

On July 5, 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Mridul for appointment as Chief Justice of Manipur HC.

His appointment as Manipur HC Chief Justice was notified on October 16, 2023, and he took oath four days later. No order on the bail pleas was delivered before he left.

This meant that the cases had to be heard afresh by a new bench. They were then listed before a bench comprising Justices Suresh Kait and Shalinder Kaur in November 2023. The bench, which had the criminal appeals roster, heard the cases for the first time on November 1, 2023. Another bench which had the same roster, comprising Justices Prathiba Singh and Amit Sharma, could not hear the cases since the latter was earlier the NIA special public prosecutor in the HC.

In January 2024, another change of roster was notified, according to which criminal appeals were to be dealt with by a bench of Justices Kait and Manoj Jain. This bench heard the bail pleas four times from January to May 2024.

Lawyers for the accused had made oral requests to the bench to reserve orders after they closed arguments in their individual cases. However, the bench did not reserve orders, and continued hearing other connected bail pleas.

On July 11, the SC Collegium recommended Justice Kait for appointment as the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir HC. While the recommendation was pending with the Centre, another roster change was effected in the Delhi HC.

This time, the cases went to a bench comprising Justices Kait and Girish Kathpalia, which was specifically assigned the bail matters of the Delhi riots accused. However, this bench did not hear the cases.

Earlier this month, the SC Collegium revised its recommendation, listing Justice Kait for appointment as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh HC instead of the J&K HC. The recommendation was approved by the Center on September 21, and the Judge took oath as the Madhya Pradesh HC Chief Justice on Wednesday.

While lawyers get ready to argue the bail pleas for the third time, there is disquiet on the delay.

“My client was arrested in March 2020 and the court has neither framed charges against him nor commenced trial in the case. His bail plea was first filed in the HC in May 2022, and we have to now argue it for a third time all over again. This chronology itself is unconscionable. The right to a speedy trial and the right to be granted bail are constitutional rights,” senior advocate Rebecca John, who appears for Saifi, told The Indian Express.