Gauhati High Court Grants Bail To College Student Booked Under UAPA For Allegedly Writing Pro-ULFAI Post On Facebook

The Gauhati High Court on Thursday granted bail to a college student (Borshahsri Buragohain/Borshahari Buragohain) who has been accused of writing a Facebook post allegedly supporting a banned terrorist organization United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I).

The bench of Justice Ajit Borthakur granted her bail by observing that further continuation of her detention may not be required in the interest of the ongoing investigation. She was in judicial custody since May 18, 2022, i.e., for 64 days and was booked u/s 10(a)(iv)/13(1)(b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

As per the allegations made in the FIR, on May 17, 2022, she posted written words on her Facebook account in favor of ULFA-I stating "Swadhin Surjyar Dikhe Akou Ekhuj, Akou Korim Rashtra Droh" (One more step towards the independent sun, again, we shall do the seditious act)."

It was further alleged that by Facebook post, she had threatened the sovereignty of India and had boosted up the unlawful objective of the said banned organization. She had earlier prayed for bail before the District and Sessions Court, Golaghat, which was rejected, thus, she had moved to the High Court.

The Counsel for the student, Borshahsri Buragohain/Borshahari Buragohain argued before the Court she was in no way involved in the commission of the alleged offences and that her Facebook account was hacked by some unknown person, for which, she did not have any access to the social media platform Facebook.

On the other hand, the Public Prosecutor submitted that the case diary revealed prima facie no sufficient incriminating material against her requiring her continuation of detention any further in the interest of investigation, which is yet to be completed.

Having examined her case in the light of Article 19(1) (a) [freedom of speech and expression] and 19(2) of the Constitution of India [reasonable restrictions] as well as the definition of "unlawful activity" provided in Section 2(o) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Court granted her bail by observing thus:

"A perusal of the contents of the relevant Facebook post, which is in the form of one poetic line, it is revealed that the accused petitioner, who is a college student, expressed her feeling without reference to any organisation. On scrutiny of the pros and cons of the evidence so far collected by the investigating officer in the case and having regard to the submissions made by the learned counsel for both the sides as stated above as well as the length of detention, this Court is of the opinion that further continuation of detention of the accused petitioner may not be required in the interest of the ongoing investigation."

Case title - BORSHAHSRI BURAGOHAIN v. THE STATE OF ASSAM

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Gau) 50

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