Delhi HC grants bail to two in NIA terror conspiracy case, cites limited role

THe new delhi heights margaret court on fri granted bail bond to two men in connection with a terror conspiracy case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).In its 29-page judgment, the court noted that the allegations against the accused were limited to their participation in social media groups where anti-national content propagating terrorism was shared, with no specific claim that they created such groups or disseminated objectionable material themselves.A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja granted bail to the two men, Haris Nisar Langoo and Zamin Adil Bhat.They were arrested in October 2021 in a case registered by the NIA under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).The case stemmed from intelligence received by the Centre regarding a conspiracy, both in physical and virtual domains, to carry out violent terrorist acts in Jammu & Kashmir and other parts of India, including New Delhi. The NIA alleged that the conspiracy was orchestrated by hybrid cadres and sleeper cells linked to proscribed terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Al-Badr, operating through front groups like The Resistance Front (TRF), People Against Fascist Forces (PAFF), Muslim Janbaaz Force (MJF) and Mujahideen Ghazwatul Hind (MGH).The NIA had said that Zamin Adil Bhat was highly radicalised and actively disseminated videos, images and audio content linked to the Islamic State (IS) and Islamic State Jammu & Kashmir (ISJK) to influence and recruit others for jihad. He was also allegedly in contact with ISJK sympathisers and circulated material relating to the concept of “Wilayat-Al-Hind.”Haris, the NIA said, allegedly operated a YouTube channel titled “No Compromise on Tawheed,” where edited lectures featuring extremist symbols were uploaded. He was accused of collaborating with Bhat to radicalise local youth and acting as an overground worker and hybrid cadre for TRF.The court observed that they had remained in custody for over four years, with no certainty of the trial concluding within a reasonable time, and held that their continued detention, considering their “limited role,” would not serve the ends of justice.“As regards the material found on the digital devices of the appellants, which may even be propagating anti-national activities, in our view, the same may not justify the continuation of the prolonged detention of the appellants at the trial stage. It is not the case of the prosecution that the appellants are the creators of this content or had further disseminated this content to others. The distinction between ideological alignment and operational participation is constitutionally significant and must be borne in mind while applying the prima facie standard under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA to the specific facts and material attributed to each of the appellant(s),” the court said.The two accused had approached the High Court challenging the trial court’s order dated March 3, 2023, which had rejected their bail pleas. In their petitions, they contended that they had been in custody since October 2021 and that, as per the chargesheet, the NIA proposed to examine around 359 witnesses, of whom only 12 had been examined so far. On this basis, they argued that the inordinate delay in the trial entitled them to be released on bail, asserting that the recording of evidence alone was likely to take more than 38 years. They said that they had already undergone more than four years of custody and were implicated merely because they were members of certain WhatsApp groups in which objectionable photos or videos were shared.The NIA’s special public prosecutor, Gautam Narayan, opposed the bail, asserting that the two were not mere passive associates but active participants in both the online and offline propaganda machinery of the alleged terrorist conspiracy.