New Delhi, Jul 10 (IANS): A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to several Bangladesh nationals who had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz in March.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur of Saket Court granted bail to 82 foreigners on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. They were produced before the court through video-conferencing.

The accused will now file a plea bargaining application, which 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.

Till now, scores of foreign nationals belonging to different countries, including Afghanistan, Brazil, China, USA, Ukraine, Australia, Egypt, Russia, Algeria, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and others, have been given bail in the same case.

They were all part of the meeting, which was in alleged violation of the 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, though the Centre has cancelled their visas and blacklisted them. The FIR was registered against Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi and others on March 31.

The accused 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.