A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Chinese, Brazilian, Australian, Fijian, and Philippines nationals who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz here in March. They were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. They have also moved a plea bargaining application before the trial court. Plea bargaining is a pre-trial negotiation between the accused and the prosecution where the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for certain concessions by the prosecution. This came a day after the court granted bail to 122 Malaysian nationals in the same case. All the foreign nationals had participated in the congregation in alleged violation of visa norms and guidelines issued by the Indian government on Covid-19. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has named more than 900 foreign nationals in connection with the case. They have not been arrested. The FIR was registered against Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi and others on March 31. The accused persons have been charged under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act, and also for violating the prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
