If not legal, quite justifiable: Court rejects plea which challenged moving undertrial to Nagpur jail from Mumbai

Nachan’s lawyer, Tahera Qureshi, made a similar argument, relying on Supreme Court orders stating that an undertrial cannot be shifted without informing the court. Nachan faces charges of conspiracy to carry out attacks as part of the banned organisation ISIS.

The court acknowledged that there was no record of permission being sought before Nachan was moved to Nagpur and termed it a “serious lapse”. It noted that Nachan, a resident of Padgha near Bhiwandi, lives close to Mumbai, and that authorities cited security concerns.

“From the nature of offences alleged against him (Nachan), it comes that he and other accused in this case are having a huge network of associates in the locality… Offences pose a serious threat to the safety, security and sovereignty of the nation… If for these and such reasons, the accused Shamil is shifted for security reasons from one prison to some other prison, in my opinion, if not legal, it is quite justifiable, even though permission from this Court for that is not obtained,” special judge C S Baviskar said.

“The jail authority even fears a law and order problem on a communal aspect and that is more serious in this case… the case law does not apply to our case,” the court added.

Jail authorities opposed Nachan’s plea, stating that all accused involved in the July incident were shifted to different prisons. Nachan also sought CCTV footage from the barrack and circle where the alleged assault took place, saying it would show he was not at fault. The jail said the footage was not available, and the court held that the question of directing the jail to produce it “does not arise”.

The court said that since the trial against Nachan is yet to begin, he can attend proceedings via video conference from Nagpur Jail, and that there is no urgency to shift him back to Mumbai.