‘Waged war against country they were born in’: Karnataka HC upholds 7-year jail

The order added that the trial court, after considering the gravity of the offence, imposed a sentence of 7 years proportionate to the crime committed by the accused and, as a matter of right, “cannot claim to impose a minimum sentence of only 5 years.”

Telegram group, terror plans and 7-year sentence

According to the material on record, two men were arrested in a National Investigation Agency (NIA) case and charged under several IPC provisions and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. During the investigation, electronic devices and other incriminating materials from them.

According to the investigation, one of the accused was part of a Telegram group called “Khorasan Eagle”, and his phone contained videos, audio clips and photographs linked to the Taliban and AI-Qaeda, while the other was associated with “Path of Truth”  and “Kashmir Hizarat Saath”, the latter being the group he had created, his phone contained jihadi material and evidence of contact with foreign associates.

The trial court noted that the two men had radicalised and recruited youths and conspired to send the youths to Kashmir and Khorasan province of Afghanistan for terrorist training and provoked youths to wage war in the name of religion. 

The trial court noted that they planned to procure and carry arms with an intention of waging war against India. One of the accused men had shared messages expressing a desire for martyrdom, while the other had said he was ready to sacrifice his life for banned terrorist organisations. The two men pleaded guilty to the charges. On October 27, 2023, the trial court sentenced them to seven years in prison.

NIA opposed a shorter term

Advocate Nagesh Reddy, appearing for the accused men, sought a reduction in their sentence from seven years to five years, arguing that they had pleaded guilty and had already spent more than four years in custody, had repented and had reformed themselves.

The lawyer also relied on a January 20 Karnataka High Court ruling in another case where a seven-year sentence had been reduced to six years, and sought similar relief.

Special Public Prosecutor Prasanna Kumar and advocate Sachin C, representing the National Investigation Agency, opposed the reduction and said that they were planning to go to Afghanistan via Kashmir and Pakistan to join the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda. 

The counsel also contended that the trial court took note that the accused were planning for procurement and were carrying arms with an intention to wage war against India, and they were ready to sacrifice their life for a terrorist act. 

The counsel argued that the nature and seriousness of the activities the seven-year sentence, despite the accused having pleaded guilty.

Sentence reduction denied

The court held that the satisfactory jail-conduct report was not enough to show that the men had genuinely reformed. It noted that the probation officer’s report was based only on their own statements, while the jail report in one-line sentence that their behaviour was satisfactory.

After taking note of the gravity of the offence and the material on record, the court held that this was not a case for reducing the sentence from seven years to five years and dismissed the appeal.