New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to cancel the bail of a man, who was booked under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA for allegedly sympathising with terror group ISIS.
The matter was heard by a bench comprising justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh. The bench noted that the conclusion of trial will take some time and the respondent Ammar Abdul Rahiman was released on bail after he spent almost three years in judicial custody, as an undertrial.
The bench noted that there is no instance, which has been brought on record to establish that Rahiman has misused the concession of bail so far, and he is regularly appearing before the trial court, and has made no attempt to obstruct the ongoing trial. “We see no reason to cancel the bail …”, said the bench. However, the bench accepted the contention of the NIA’s counsel that he should not be allowed to leave the country during the pendency of the trial. The bench said Rahiman cannot travel abroad unless permission is granted by the high court.
The apex court decided to uphold the Delhi High Court order granting bail to Rahiman and said he did not violate any of the bail conditions. The bench noted the accused was arrested on August 4, 2021 and the trial was yet to conclude.
The bench noted that prosecution proposes to examine more than 160 witnesses, out of whom 44 have been examined till now.
Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, representing the NIA, said he had no major role apart from being a sympathiser of the proscribed terror group ISIS.
Last year in May, the high court had granted him bail. The NIA had alleged that he was highly radicalised towards ISIS and allegedly entered into criminal conspiracy with known and unknown ISIS members for undertaking Hijrah (religious migration) to Jammu and Kashmir and other ISIS controlled territory to join the group for establishment of Caliphate and to carry out its activities in India.
