Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi was accused of being a conspirator in the case.
On Tuesday morning, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) aired a news report about former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Chandigarh, and his views on the strained relationship between India and Pakistan under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The report had been compiled by Delhi-based journalist Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi, accused of being a conspirator in the 2012 Israeli diplomat attack case in the capital.
Kazmi, who was arrested over three years ago by the Special Cell of Delhi police, this week took up a job with the IRIB — Iran’s state-run radio agency. He was earlier associated with Doordarshan, where he worked as an anchor for Urdu news bulletins. He had joined Doordarshan in 1993 and had even reported from Iraq’s conflict zone in 2003.
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Kazmi, who had earlier worked as a correspondent with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) between 1983 and 1990, joined the IRIB’s radio wing on Monday. He will file daily news reports from India for IRIB’s Urdu bulletin.
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He had earlier been advised by his counsel against returning to journalism, keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case.
In the chargesheet filed by the Special Cell of Delhi Police, he had been accused of offences under various provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Explosive Substances Act.
“I had asked my client to restrain himself from working for any news agency, as one has to report hard facts that might cause prejudice against my client. This was done keeping in my mind the abundant precaution one has to take considering the facts and circumstances of this case. However, more than three years have passed and he has no fixed source of income. This is one of the main reasons I have now asked him start working again. Initially, I believed that he should just concentrate on the case, as it is a voluminous one,” Kazmi’s defence counsel advocate Mehmood Pracha told The Indian Express.
Speaking about his return to journalism, Kazmi said, “I had just finished presenting my bulletin on Doordarshan when I was arrested outside the Islamic Centre in Lodhi colony. This report is the first one after a three-year-long year sabbatical. It is an exciting time to report on Iran-related issues and India’s engagement with Iran, especially due to the changing equation between Iran and global powers after the historic nuclear deal”.
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The Delhi sessions court is currently hearing arguments on framing of charges against Kazmi.
A revision petition filed by the accused — pertaining to issues related to special offences like those under UAPA to be exclusively tried by a special court or a sessions court — is pending in the Delhi High Court.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi was accused of being a conspirator in the case.
