Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the Bombay High Court order granting bail to a man, charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, for allegedly being a member of the banned terror outfit Islamic State (ISIS) on grounds of delay in the trial against him. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant said the August 13, 2021 High Court order granting bail to Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Ahmed is a good and reasoned one. Ahmed was arrested on August 7, 2016 and charged under UAPA for allegedly being part of a terror outfit. He was also charged under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to the NIA, he was part of the ISIS’s ‘Parbhani module’, which purportedly was planning to carry out a terror attack on the office of the Superintendent of Police in Parbhani in Maharashtra. Granting him bail, the High Court had noted that while there existed a bar on granting the relief under UAPA, his continued incarceration without any chance of the trial in the case concluding soon would be a breach of his constitutional right to life and liberty. It asked him to appear before the NIA twice a week for the first month and then once a week for the next two months. The NIA had told the court that according to witness statements, Ahmed and his friends used to gather in the evenings to discuss “atrocities against Islam” across the world, and about “avenging” such atrocities. The defence counsel, however, contended that mere discussions do not constitute the commission of an offence. Giving bail, the High Court said that at this juncture, there is no prima facie material to indicate that he instigated the commission of offence or insurgency, or that he advocated violent reactions. “First and foremost, the tenor of the statements of the witnesses, even if taken on a par, would indicate that the accused persons used to have discussions over the threats to Islam – real, perceived or imaginary,” the court said.
