A bench comprising Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja noted that the trial was not likely to conclude anytime soon and granted relief to the two accused.
The court directed that the appellants shall not join any WhatsApp group or other social media platforms where anti-national material is uploaded, circulated or propagated. They have also been barred from uploading, sharing, disseminating or circulating any anti-national material on social media platforms or otherwise. The accused have been directed to furnish an undertaking to this effect before the trial court.
According to the case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) received information that cadres of several proscribed terrorist organisations were active in Jammu and Kashmir and were being orchestrated from Pakistan. The agency alleged that these organisations and their affiliates were conspiring both physically and in cyberspace and planning violent terror acts in Jammu and Kashmir and major cities across India, including New Delhi.
The prosecution has alleged that the accused were involved in radicalising local youth for recruitment and training in the handling of arms, ammunition and explosives. Members of the proscribed organisations were also alleged to have conspired to wage war against the Government of India.
Sobiya Aziz was arrested in October 2021. She was allegedly found in possession of diaries containing handwritten notes on Shariyat law, Islamic State ideology and jihadi material, along with an Islamic State flag. The NIA also alleged that she was involved in transporting a militant.
Kamran Ashraf Reshi, who was also arrested in October 2021, was allegedly associated with online propaganda groups linked to terrorist organisations and Pakistan-based handlers. The NIA alleged that he attended radicalising lectures and was associated with an active Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.
While granting bail, the High Court noted that only 21 of the 359 witnesses cited by the prosecution had been examined.
Regarding Aziz, the court said that she had been in long incarceration for almost five years, was a woman, was suffering from various ailments and that the trial was not likely to conclude anytime soon. The bench therefore held that she was entitled to be released on bail.
In Reshi’s case, the High Court said that given his long period of incarceration juxtaposed against the material alleged against him by the NIA, he had been able to make out a case for release on bail. The court also noted that there was no likelihood of the trial concluding soon.
The bail order comes as the prosecution case involving alleged terrorist conspiracy, radicalisation, online propaganda and plans for violent acts remains pending, with only a small fraction of the cited witnesses examined so far.
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