Today, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court granted custody parole to former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain in all cases where he has not yet been granted bail, allowing him to campaign for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections as a candidate of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

Custody parole has been granted to Hussain from today until February 3, with several conditions attached. He will be allowed to leave jail during the day, accompanied by security, but must return each night.

The order was passed by a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol, and Sandeep Mehta after a Division Bench could not reach a consensus on whether to grant Hussain interim bail.

Earlier today, the three-judge Bench had directed the Delhi government to provide details on the security personnel and associated costs required for granting custody parole instead of interim bail in all cases where Hussain is yet to be granted bail.

The matter was revisited in the afternoon, and despite strong objections from Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, who represented the Delhi Police, the Bench granted custody parole to Hussain.

Hussain had previously requested interim bail in connection with one of the Delhi riots cases, specifically the case involving the death of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer. In his petition, he pointed out that he had already been granted bail in other similar Delhi riots cases.

However, the Court noted that even if Hussain were granted interim bail in the remaining Delhi riots case, there are still two other cases, including a money laundering case, in which he has yet to be granted bail.

In response, Hussain's counsel, Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal, proposed that Hussain be granted custody parole in all cases where he has not yet been granted bail, allowing him to campaign while remaining under custody. Aggarwal further assured that Hussain would stay in a hotel room rather than his residence to mitigate concerns about influencing witnesses.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju opposed the plea, arguing that granting custody parole would set a precedent, allowing more prisoners to seek similar relief to contest elections.

The Court, however, responded that it was not setting any new legal precedent and noted that by February 3rd midnight, campaigning would cease, and Hussain would return to custody on the 4th.

Initially adjourned until tomorrow to allow ASG Raju to seek instructions, the matter was taken up earlier and custody parole was granted to Hussain later that afternoon.

Previously, a Division Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah had delivered a split verdict on Hussain's request for interim bail. Justice Mithal rejected the plea, while Justice Amanullah supported granting him interim bail.

Hussain is accused in the case related to the death of IB officer Ankit Sharma, who was killed during the February 2020 riots in Delhi. He has been in judicial custody since March 16, 2020, and had initially sought interim bail from the Delhi High Court. However, the High Court denied him interim bail and instead granted custody parole in the case involving the IB officer's death.