Hyderabad, Sept. 1 -- Nearly six years after a quarrel over a street cricket match in Adilabad town ended in a fatal shooting, the Telangana High Court has suspended the life sentence handed to Mohd Farooq Ahmed, the former vice chairman of Adilabad Municipal Council, and granted him bail while his appeal against the conviction remains pending.

A division bench of Justices K Lakshman and K Sujana passed the interim order on Monday, August 31, taking into account that Ahmed has already spent more than five years in jail since December 18, 2020, and that no other criminal cases are pending against him.

Why bail was granted

Central to the bench's reasoning was the sheer backlog before it. The court noted that it is currently hearing appea...