A special court earlier this week rejected pleas filed by two accused booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), alleged to be Bangladeshi citizens living in India on forged documents, stating that their pleas admitting guilt cannot be held voluntary, clear and unambiguous. Mohammed Rippen Hussain and Mohammed Hassan Ali Mohammed Amir Ali had said in their pleas that while they have been booked under sections where the maximum punishment is five years, they have already spent nearly four years in jail. The two filed applications admitting their guilt under sections pertaining to forgery, criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code and the Foreigners Act. The NIA gave its no objection to their pleas accepting guilt. Five men were booked in 2018 on allegations that they were staying in India without valid documents and were aiding and abetting members of terror group Anasrullah Bangla Team. Charges were framed against them in 2019 and the trial is currently underway with 34 witnesses having deposed. The special court considered their pleas as per a Supreme Court order, which said that the plea accepting guilt by an accused must be “clean, unambiguous and unqualified". It had added that the court must act with caution and circumspection before accepting the plea and must be satisfied that the accused has understood the nature of allegations against him which he was admitting to. The court said that in this case, the two accused had initially pleaded not guilty, based on which the trial had commenced. It added that the annexure part of their plea made now admitting guilt is not clear. It added that the annexure submitted in their own handwriting by the two accused clearly demonstrated that the accused are not pleading guilty voluntarily. It said that hence, it was “not safe and desirable” to convict the accused. Previously, in at least four other cases prosecuted by the NIA in Maharashtra, the accused have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced in accordance with law.