News Analysis India

Tag: UAPA

  • Stan Swamy challenges stringent UAPA provision, says it violates fundamental right

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case, has challenged in the Bombay High Court a provision of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) dealing with grant of bail, contending it has created an “insurmountable hurdle” for those seeking relief.

    Swamy said section 43D(5) of the UAPA was violative of the accused person’s fundamental right to life and liberty as guaranteed by the Constitution even as the High Court on Saturday extended the stay of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest at a private hospital in Mumbai till July 6.

    Senior counsel Mihir Desai told a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar that Swamy was still undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of the Holy Family Hospital, where he was shifted from the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai following the HC’s order on May 28 this year.

    Swamy filed his fresh plea challenging section 43D(5) of the UAPA on Friday.

    In his plea filed through advocate Desai, Swamy said the above section created an “insurmountable hurdle” for the accused to get bail and, thus, was violative of the accused person’s fundamental right to life and liberty as guaranteed by the Constitution.

    The common practice under the criminal justice system is to presume an accused person’s innocence unless charges against him or her are proven by the prosecution.

    Section 43D (5) of the UAPA, however, mandates that if a court has reasonable grounds to believe that the accusation against someone charges under the Act is prima facie true, then the accused shall not be released on bail.

    Swamy’s plea stated that presumption of innocence is a fundamental tenet of criminal jurisprudence and when a harsh condition, such as that mentioned above is imposed on grant of bail, even before the trial is conducted, the same “inverts on its head, the principle of presumption of innocence.”

    Desai said the plea also stated that the provision under the UAPA to brand certain organisations as a front for banned or terrorist organisations was bad in law.

    The UAPA provides for the declaration of an association as unlawful and for the listing of organisations in the first schedule of the Act as “terrorist organisations”.

    Prosecuting agencies often charge accused persons under the Act of being members of organisations working as a front for banned ones.

    In the Elgar-Parishad case, Swamy and his co-accused have been charged by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) as being members of frontal organisations working on behalf of the banned CPI (Maoists).

    Last month, the NIA had filed an affidavit before the HC opposing Swamy’s bail plea.

    It had said that there did not exist “conclusive proof” of his medical ailments.

    It alleged that Swamy was a Maoist, who had hatched a conspiracy to create unrest in the country.

    The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

    The police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links.

    Swamy, who claims to be suffering from several ailments, including the Parkinson’s disease, had moved the high court earlier this year through advocate Desai, seeking medical treatment and interim bail on health grounds.

    He had tested positive for coronavirus at a private hospital last month and was subsequently shifted to the ICU.

    His plea for medical bail and bail on merits was listed for hearing in the high court on Friday but could not be taken up due to paucity of time.

    The bench adjourned the hearing to Tuesday and extended his hospital stay till then.

    “Till the next hearing, our interim order on his (Swamy’s) treatment at the private hospital will continue,” it said.

  • FIR registered under UAPA in Jammu IAF station blast case; NIA likely to take over probe

    By PTI
    JAMMU: An FIR was registered Sunday under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after two explosives-laden drones crashed into the IAF station at Jammu airport, officials said, while indicating the case may be taken over by the terror probe agency NIA.

    The drones crashed into the IAF station at Jammu airport in the early hours of Sunday, perhaps the first time that suspected Pakistan-based terrorists have used unmanned aerial vehicles in an attack, the officials said.

    An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Satwari police station on the application of a junior warrant officer of the IAF, the officials said.

    “The NIA is likely to take over the case. They are already supervising the investigation at the scene of the blast after joining the probe,” one of the officials said.

    He said an FIR was registered under UAPA sections 13/16/18/23 of the (unlawful activities/terrorist act/conspiracy/enhanced penalties), and IPC section 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

    Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act (causing explosion likely to endanger life or property/attempt to cause explosion, or for making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property) have also been included.

    The explosions took place around 1.40 am within six minutes of each other.

    The first blast ripped off the roof of a single-storey building at the high security technical area of the airport manned by the IAF in Satwari area of the city.

    The second one was on the ground, the officials said.

    Two IAF personnel were injured in the incident, which Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh has termed a “terror attack”.

    Probe teams from the IAF and Special Forces have also visited the scene along with forensic experts to investigate the nature of the blast and collect evidence, they said.

    Meanwhile, a battery of mediapersons camped outside the main gate of the IAF station hit by the twin blasts.

    However, no out of ordinary movement was noticed at the gate except visits by senior officers of the Army, police, CRPF and other agencies.

    Labourers engaged for routine work inside the station reported on schedule and were allowed in after usual checking of their identity cards and frisking.

    Army quick reaction teams (QRTs) were seen making rounds to maintain watch outside the IAF station, while security forces also carried out area domination in the adjoining residential localities, the officials quoted above said.

    Security has been beefed up across Jammu region including on highways where special checkpoints were set up to carry out checking of vehicles especially at the entry and exit points of the city.

    DGP Dilbag Singh also said while officials were investigating the drone attack, another major strike was averted as a person, probably owing allegiance to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, was arrested along with an improvised explosive device weighing around six kg.

    The person was tasked with triggering the IED blast at a crowded place, Singh said.

    “The suspect has been detained and is being interrogated. More suspects are likely to be picked up in this foiled IED blast attempt.”

  • You are equally guilty for enacting UAPA : AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to P Chidambaram

    By Express News Service
    HYDERABAD: Asaduddin Owaisi, the AIMIM chief questioned the sincerity of former Union Minister, P Chidambaram who welcomed the release of Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha. He demanded that Chidambaram speak out about the real problem, as it was Congress regime that enacted amendments to ‘draconian’ UAPA.

    These 3 youth deserve apology from BJP & INC, not platitudes from men responsible for torture & unjust imprisonment of Indians 2/2
    — Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) June 19, 2021

    Responding to Chidambaram’s tweets, Asad tweeted “Three empty tweets but not a word about the elephant in the room? Say the magic word @PChidambaram_IN : UAPA. You enacted draconian UAPA amendments destroying innumerable Muslim & Adivasi lives. When BJP amended it to make it worse your party @INCIndia eagerly supported in RS.”

    Asad demanded an apology from BJP and Congress while holding them responsible for ‘torture and unjust imprisonment’. “These 3 youth deserve an apology from BJP & INC, not platitudes from men responsible for torture & unjust imprisonment of Indians,” he tweeted. 

  • North East Delhi riots conspiracy case: HC says legitimate dissent a key feature of democracy

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court, while granting bail to activists Natasha Narwal, Devanagana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha – accused in the North East Delhi riots conspiracy case – underscored the constitutional right of people to dissent and protest.

    Dismissing the charges of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the three, the court noted – “in its anxiety to suppress dissent and in the morbid fear that matters may get out of hand, the state has blurred the line between the constitutionally guaranteed ‘right to protest’ and ‘terrorist activity” referring to the stringent provisions of UAPA slapped against the three.

    READ HERE | Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita get bail in Delhi riots case

    In the bail orders of Narwal and Kalita, a division bench comprising Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambani also observed that “If such blurring gains traction, democracy would be in peril”.

    Mincing no words, the two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court, in the bail order of Kalita stated – “We are afraid, that in our opinion, shorn-off the superfluous verbiage, hyperbole and the stretched inferences drawn from them by the prosecuting agency, the factual allegations made against the appellant do not prima facie disclose the commission of any offence under sections 15 (Terrorist act), 17 (Punishment for raising funds for terrorist act) and 18 (Punishment for conspiracy) of the UAPA.”

    ALSO READ | A protest by college students doesn’t shake foundations of our nation: Delhi HC

    In separate judgments, the court went on to state that even if it were to assume for the sake of argument, that in the present case inflammatory speeches, chakkajams, instigation of women protesters and other actions, which Narwal and Kalita are accused of, “crossed the line of peaceful protests permissible under our Constitutional guarantee, that however would yet not amount to commission of a ‘terrorist act’ or a ‘conspiracy’ or an ‘act preparatory’ to the commission of a terrorist act as understood under the UAPA.”

    Whether the protests crossed the limit of what is permissible under Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) and became non-peaceful protests were subject matter of another FIR, in which both Kalita and Narwal were already on bail, the court noted.

    The court said that making inflammatory speeches, organising chakka-jams etc were common in the face of widespread opposition to governmental or parliamentary actions. In Narwal’s bail order, the court remarked that the government may prohibit public meetings, demonstrations or protests on streets or highways to avoid nuisance or disturbance of traffic “but the Government cannot close all streets or open areas for public meetings thereby defeating the fundamental right that flows from Article 19(1) (a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution.”

    Quoting a judgment of the Supreme Court, the two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court said, “legitimate dissent is a distinguishable feature of any democracy and the question is not whether the issue raised by the protestors is right or wrong or whether it is justified or unjustified. The fundamental aspect is the right which is conferred upon the affected people in a democracy to voice their grievances. Dissenters may be in a minority. They have a right to express their views. A particular cause, which in the first instance, may appear to be insignificant or irrelevant may gain momentum and acceptability when it is duly voiced and debated.”

    The court further said that in the chargesheet filed against the three, ‘there is a complete lack of any specific, particularized, factual allegations, that is to say other than those sought to be spun by mere grandiloquence.’

  • NIA chargesheets suspected member of Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist group 

    NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday filed a charge-sheet against Mohammed Iqbal, a suspected member of a terror group named Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in many countries.

    In the charge-sheet, which was filed in a special NIA court in Chennai, the agency said Iqbal, 31, conspired with other members of the terror group, professed and preached about establishing an Islamic State caliphate. 

    The charge-sheet was filed under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code. The agency said that the case was originally registered in Madurai, Tamil Nadu against Iqbal alias Senthil Kumar for uploading “denigrating posts” on Facebook. 

    An investigation revealed that the posts on the Facebook page “Thoonga Vizhigal Rendu is in Kazimar Street” were uploaded by the accused to incite communal disharmony amongst different religious groups, in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.

    The charge-sheet states that Iqbal created multiple social media accounts, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Telegram, WhatsApp etc to upload posts intending to disclaim, disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, and to excite disaffection towards the Indian government.

    Further investigation in the case is still on, the NIA officials said. Meanwhile, the NIA chargesheeted two Hizbul Mujahideen overground workers (OGWs) on Saturday in a case related to a criminal conspiracy to carry out terror attacks at in Uttar Pradesh.  

  • CPM to seek rescheduling of Parliament session due to assembly polls

    By PTI
    COIMBATORE: The CPI(M) will seek rescheduling of the second phase of the budget session of Parliament beginning from March 8, in view of the assembly elections in five states, party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Thursday.

    Since majority of the states such as Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Assam have more opposition MPs, they may find it difficult to campaign in these states, where polls are scheduled to be held from March 27 to April 6.

    Noting that the party will seek rescheduling of the session on the first day itself, Yechury said main policies related to the budget or economy can be passed and other topics can be taken up in the next session, so that MPs can campaign in their states.

    As polls in West Bengal will be conducted in eight phases, the leaders will have enough time for campaigning, he told reporters here.

    On the election scenario, Yechury alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government has completely destroyed the foundation of Constitution and federal structure and almost all the sectors like industry, education were destroyed by its wrong policies.

    Accusing the Centre of formulating policies to further ‘enrich’ the cronies and friends of the PM, the left party leader said even the MSME sector, generating largest employment next to agriculture, was totally neglected.

    Alleging that the government was targetting voices of dissent by booking them under UAPA and filing sedition cases, he said the Supreme Court has finally ruled that dissenting was not sedition.

    However, there are many such sedition cases to be disposed of, he added.

    Yechury slammed the ruling AIADMK for supporting every single measure taken by the BJP led NDA government at the Centre, including the farm bills.

    “This is not acceptable. That is why CPI(M) is today taking all measures against these parties. We are working to ensure the defeat of BJP-AIADMK alliance in Tamil Nadu. We will cooperate with all the forces to achieve the goal,” he said.

    Replying to a query whether the BJP was behind the decision of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s aide V K Sasikala to quit politics, he said, “The BJP has supported and it is quite obvious.” Politburo members G Ramakrishnan who was also present said the seat-sharing deal with DMK will be finalised in another two days.

  • NIA files chargesheet against two LeT terrorists for conspiracy to wage war against India

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: The NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet before a special court here on Monday against two terrorists of Pakistan-based terror group LeT for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to commit subversive activities and wage a war against India, besides killing key personalities of the Hindu community in the country, an official said.

    The chargesheet was filed against Dr Sabeel Ahmed of Bengaluru and Asadulla Khan of Hyderabad under sections of the India Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a spokesperson of the country’s premier investigation agency said.

    The case, initially registered in August 2012 in Bengaluru, pertains to a conspiracy hatched by members of proscribed terror organisations Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) to commit subversive activities and wage a war against the government of India, the NIA official said.

    They had procured illegal arms and ammunition for targeted killings of important personalities of the Hindu community in Karnataka’s Bengaluru and Hubli, Maharashtra’s Nanded and Telangana’s Hyderabad to disturb communal harmony and strike terror in the society, the official said.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) re-registered the case in November 2012 and has filed chargesheets against 17 accused.

    LeT members Ahmed and Khan were involved in a criminal conspiracy, along with other accused, in supporting and furthering the cause of the terror outfit in Saudi Arabia’s Dammam and Riyadh, the NIA spokesperson said.

    They actively participated in meetings, where terrorist activities like targeted killings of important personalities of the Hindu community in Bengaluru, Hubli and Nanded were planned, the official added.

    The special NIA court in Bengaluru convicted 13 accused in the case in September 2016 and sentenced them to five years of imprisonment for their involvement in offences under the UAPA, IPC, Arms Act and Official Secrets Act.

    A trial is continuing against three accused who were named in an earlier chargesheet, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation against six absconding accused is underway.

  • UP ATS takes arrested PFI activists on 7-day remand, slaps UAPA, treason cases

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police has lodged a fresh FIR against the two PFI members — Anshad Badruddin and Firoz Khan — invoking the sections pertaining to treason here on Wednesday. The other sections slapped on the duo include those under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), criminal conspiracy, Arms Act, and Explosives Act. As per the sources, UP ATS produced both the PFI activists in a local court in Lucknow and took them into its remand for a week. 

    The ATS sleuths are also planning to take the remand of recently arrested PFI general secretary — K Rauf Sharif from Kerala who was brought to Mathura jail over his alleged role in fomenting unrest in the state during Hathras gangrape and murder case. It may be recalled that five PFI members are already in lodged in Mathura jail allegedly for fomenting trouble in the state during the infamous Hathras case and the subsequent nationwide outrage over it.

    As per the police sources, during the last one year, UP Police have arrested 123 PFI activists in connection with various cases including anti-CAA protests.

    ALSO READ | PFI members arrested with explosive devices in UP, planned to execute blasts across state

    Both Badruddin and Firoz, the natives of Kerala, were arrested by the UP Special Task Force (STF) in a joint operation with central agencies in Lucknow on Tuesday evening. The cops had seized huge amount of explosives, weapons, and live cartridges from the possession of the two fugitives who later confessed to their plan of executing bomb blasts across UP.

    Sources claimed that the ATS wanted to interrogate Badruddin, Firoz, and Rauf together. According to ADG (Law & Order) Prashant Kumar, while Anshad Badruddin was identified as the national head of the PFI’s ‘Hit Squad’, Firoz was the national trainer on bomb-making. The ADG had also said that both the PFI members were black belts in martial arts and had confessed to having the task to target at least 20 to 25 RSS leaders within the next few months across India.

    Their immediate task was to trigger blasts across Lucknow on the occasion of Vasant Panchami on Tuesday (February 16, 2021).

    The police sources did not deny the possibility of foreign funding for the execution of the plan in UP. The police have also recovered a list of prominent Hindu organisations and their leaders. Documents in Malayalam were also recovered from the possession of the duo, said the police sources, adding that both had distributed explosives to their contacts in the state capital before being arrested from Picnic Spot Road on Lucknow outskirts.

    ADG Kumar had said that the arrests were made following specific tip-offs about a plan to trigger blasts in different parts of the state. “We got specific leads that the two had reached Lucknow on February 11 and a manhunt was launched. We activated our informers’ network and finally zeroed in on the two onTuesday,” the ADG had said. He had added that the two were also involved in brainwashing gullible youths against the government and then train them in handling weapons and explosives.

  • NC leader Hilal Lone arrested under UAPA for ‘hate speech’ in Bandipora last year: Police

    Lone, the son of NC #39;s Member of Parliament Mohammad Akbar Lone, was arrested on Monday from the MLA hostel here where he was being held captive since December last year.

  • Kashmir man seeking son’s body charged under UAPA Act

    By Associated Press
    SRINAGAR: Police have charged a Kashmiri man seeking the body of his teenage son, who was slain by government forces, with conspiring to organize illegal processions, officials said Monday.

    Police said Mushtaq Ahmed and six others, including his two brothers, were charged last week under India’s harsh anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

    Government forces fatally shot Ahmed’s 16-year-old son, Athar Mushtaq, and two other young men on Dec. 30 during what police described as a gunfight after the men refused to surrender on the outskirts of Srinagar city. They described the men as “hardcore associates of terrorists” opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir.

    Authorities buried them at a remote graveyard about 115 kilometers (70 miles) from their ancestral villages. Under a policy started in April 2020, Indian authorities have buried over 150 alleged Kashmiri rebels in unmarked graves, denying their families proper funerals. The policy has added to widespread anti-India anger in the region.

    The young men’s families have protested repeatedly seeking their bodies, while insisting they were not militants and were killed in cold blood. There is no way to independently confirm either claim.

    The killings and remote burial drew widespread public mourning. Videos on social media in which Ahmed sought his son’s body triggered an outburst of emotions as thousands rallied behind a “return the bodies” campaign.

    Last month, Ahmed dug a grave for his son at his village, demanding that his body be exhumed and returned for burial at his ancestral graveyard. The grave remains empty.

    Two police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with government regulations said the defendants conspired to organize illegal processions, abetted anti-national elements and spread disaffection against the state.

    The defendants have not yet been taken into custody.

    The anti-terror law was amended in 2019 to allow the government to designate an individual as a terrorist. Police can detain a person for six months without producing any evidence, and the accused can subsequently be imprisoned for up to seven years. Rights activists have called the law draconian.

    “Police are seeking my silence,” Ahmed said by phone from his home on Monday. “But I refuse to be silenced. I will keep seeking justice and my son’s body.”

    India has long relied on military force to retain control over the portion of Kashmir it administers. It has fought two wars over the region with Pakistan, which also claims the mountainous territory. An armed uprising since 1989 against Indian control and subsequent Indian crackdown have killed tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces.

    In August 2019, India revoked Kashmir’s semiautonomous status, clamped curfews and communication blackouts on the territory and arrested thousands, sparking outrage and economic suffering. Since then, authorities have introduced new laws and implemented policies that critics say are part of a plan to colonize the volatile region with Indian settlers.

    Indian officials have said such measures are necessary to integrate the region with India, foster greater economic development and stop threats from “anti-national elements” and Pakistan.