The trial court took almost a decade to frame charges against 11 accused in the case.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Manzer Imam, Ariz Khan and Abdul Wahid, who were arrested and booked by the National investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly being key operatives of Indian Mujahideen (IM), have been discharged by a special NIA court on Friday in Delhi for lack of proof in a UAPA case registered against them in 2012.
The Judge also directed the accused to furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs.50,000/- with one surety each in like amount in terms of Section 437A Cr.P.C.” the judge said.
They were booked in connection with with the alleged conspiracy to wage war against India by members of Indian Mujahideen.
Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik of the Patiala House Court, however, framed charges against 11 accused in the case, mostly under various sections of Unlawful Activity Prevention Act (UAPA). The trial court took almost a decade to frame charges.
Those charged included Md. Danish Ansari, Mohd. Aftab Alam, Imran Khan, Syed Maqbool, Obaid Ur Rehman, Mohd. Ahmad Siddibappa, Asaudullah Akhtar, Ujjair Ahmad, Md. Tehsin Akhtar, Haider Ali and Zia Ur Rehman.
According to a report in Livelaw, the 11 accused have been charged under various offences of UAPA and Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Manzer Imam, one among the three discharged, was arrested on Ocotober 1, 2013, was also convicted in another case in 2018 for being associated with Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
According to the report, Imam’s plea seeking bail in the matter, which is pending before Delhi High Court, will now be infructuous pursuant to his discharge. His other plea highlighting the pendency of NIA cases in trial courts however remains pending.
Another discharged person Ariz Khan has been sentenced to death in the Batla house encounter case and is also facing trial for bomb blast cases of other states. He was arrested in 2018. Khan’s appeal against death sentence is pending in the high court, reports LiveLaw.
Abdul Wahid, a Dubai based Driver, was arrested on May 20, 2016 from IGI Airport.
In the discharge order running into 121 pages, the special NIA judge observed that there is nothing on record to establish that Manzar Imam was in any manner connected with Indian Mujahideen.
Discharging him in the matter, the court said that there is no evidence or statement of any witness showing that Imam was doing any act to further the cause, object or in any manner supporting, assisting the objectives of Indian Mujahideen.
The court noted that while Imam was convicted in another case in 2018 under sections 10, 20 and 38 of UAPA and section 4 of Explosive Substance Act, he was not convicted for offence of conspiracy under section 18 of the UAPA despite being charged for it.
“Perusal of the judgment in Kerala case as well as order in Ahmedabad case show that although accused Manzar Imam was found involved in participating in terrorist camp in Kerala while being associated with SIMI but beside that nothing proved on the record of those cases,” court said.
While discharging Ariz Khan, the court said that though the prosecution relied upon a confessional statement about Batla House incident which was celebrated by some IM operatives, there was no specific attribution against Khan to establish his connection in the present matter.
“Though in that confessional statement name of accused Ariz Khan has been referred to repeatedly being involved in different offences but still this document cannot be taken into consideration in alone for framing the charge of any offence under UA(P) Act,” the court said.
While discharging the third accused, the special judge said that although two prosecution witnesses stated that Abdul Wahid Khan was having a “radicalized outlook” and used to recite verses of Holy Quran referring to Jihad in Islam, it is not sufficient to frame charges under section 17 of UAPA.
He was accused of being the “channelizer of funds” received from IM operatives in Pakistan via Dubai for use of IM operatives based in India for conducting terrorist activities.
The court also noted that there is nothing to establish that there was any prior meeting of mind or any concert for commission of a terrorist activity or involvement of Khan in preparatory acts to commit terrorist activity.
The court directed all three to be released forthwith, if not required in any other case.