Alleged Spokesperson Of Banned Outfit CPI (Maoist), Abhay Nayak Denied Bail In UAPA Case By Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court has denied bail to Abhay Devdas Nayak, who is allegedly a spokesperson and a part of the propaganda bureau of the banned outfit CPI(Maoist). Nayak was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police in June 2018 from the immigration counter of Delhi airport.

Taking into account the mandate of the proviso to Section 43D(5) of UAPA, the bench of Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal and Justice Deepak Kumar Tiwari denied him bail considering the material produced against him by the prosecution.

"...it is apparent that the appellant is a member of over ground cadre of CPI(M) and also found using the email ID to propagate the Naxal movement and ideology and he has opened the Blog Abhay Naxal Revolution and is actively involved in online recruitment of Naxal cadre. He was also found to be using proxy server to hide his identity and he is also found to have officially created 'CPI Maoist Naxalite' blog and also wrote his blogs as 'abhaynaxalrevolution' to hide his overtly and expressly Maoist connection. It also appears from record that he is also a member of Coordination Committee of Maoist Party and Organization of South Asia and also traveling records of 15 countries and having an amount of Rs.17,49,881/­ from international sources and from other material available on record, which completely furnished reasonable ground for believing that the allegation against the appellant is prima facie true." the Court said as it denied him bail.

For context, proviso to Section 43(D)(5) of the UAPA prohibits a Court from granting bail to an accused, if, on a perusal of a final report filed under Section 173 Cr.P.C., the Court is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accusations against such person are prima facie true.

The case in brief

The case of the prosecution is that the appellant Abhay Nayak is involved in the naxal activity and he is a part of the urban network of the naxal organization. It was alleged that he is working to look after the publicity of naxal activity and to connect the people with the naxal movement through his Internet Blog and other sites.

In his confessional statement, Nayak allegedly admitted that to propagate Naxal activities, he acts as a Blogger and Spokesman via social media to increase urban naxal cadre and influence urban youths. It was also alleged that is actively working as a member of over ground cadre of CPI(M). He is also involved in the online recruitment of the Naxal cadre.

He was arrested on June 1, 2018, and thereafter, he was booked under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code; 13(1)(b), 18, 38 & 39(2) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967  and 8(1)(3)(5) of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005.

He preferred an application in all three trials for grant of bail under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. which came to be rejected by the three impugned orders separately passed by the Special Judge, against which, he moved instant three appeals questioning the orders passed by the Special Judge rejecting his bail application.

It was his primary submission that the alleged confession before the police is barred under Section 25 of the Evidence Act and cannot be relied upon, as the material adduced in the charge­ sheet does not substantiate or lend the slightest weight to any of the allegations made against him.

However, considering the material available on record, and the mandate of the proviso to Section, the Court refused to grant him bail as it noted that the appellant failed to make out a case for grant of bail and the learned Special Judge was absolutely justified in rejecting his application in all the three cases. 

Case title - Abhay Nayak v. The State of Chhattisgarh [Criminal Appeal No. 960 of 2021]

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Chh) 78

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