Court Questions Delhi Police Probe While Granting Bail To Eight Persons In Case Linked To PFI Ban

Granting bail to eight accused in a case registered in connection with the ban on Popular Front Of India, a Delhi Court on Monday said that the police has not been able to show sufficient evidence to justify how the accused persons carried out the alleged unlawful activities when they were in custody from September 27 and remained in Tihar Jail till October 03 or October 04.

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Khanagwal said the record shows that accused persons were already in preventive custody when the ban on PFI came into effect and were arrested again, soon after their release from Tihar Jail.

"The IO has not been able to show sufficient incriminating material against the accused persons collected during the investigation that as to when accused persons were in custody from 27.09.2022 and remained in Tihar Jail till O4.10.2022 or 03.10.2022, then how the accused persons have carried out such an activities which are aimed at advocating, abetting or inciting/assisting any unlawful activity of unlawful organization," the court said in the order.

After the PFI was banned in September, an FIR was registered at Shaheen Bagh Police station on September 29 on the basis of apprehension of acts to be done by the members of "unlawful association".

According to the police, Mohd Shoaib, Abdul Rab, Habeeb Asghar Jamali and Mohd Waris Khan were arrested in the case on October 03 after information was received that some persons were raising slogans of 'PFI Zindabad'. The police allegedly recovered six flags of PFI from them. Similarly, the police said Abdullah, Sheikh Gulfam Hussain, Mohd Shoeb and Mohsin Waqar were arrested on October 05 and some flags of PFI alognwith pamphlets reading 'PFI Zindabad' were recovered from them.

Prior to their arrest, all the accused had been detained under Section 107/151 CrPC. While Shoaib, Rab, Jamali and Waris were released from preventive detention on October 02, Abdullah, Hussain, Shoeb and Mohsin were released on October 04.

The court in the order said that the investigating officer has submitted that the bank details of PFI have been recovered and investigation is going on to establish the link of the accused persons with that bank account. 

However, the court added: "The material collected during the investigation is silent as to the role of accused persons in financial activities or in advocating the activities of unlawful organisation after its ban being its member. Although IO has submitted that further investigation in this regard is still going on."

On the police's argument that Call Detail Records of the accused persons are to be analysed, the court said they are already in the possession of the IO "and even from that also, nothing could be shown to prove that the accused persons were involved in unlawful activity from the date of declaring PFI as unlawful organisation till their arrest in the present case".

The court further said that there is no allegation of involvement of accused persons in any terrorist activities, and that offences alleged against the accused persons is not punishable for more than seven years.

"It is rightly pointed out by Ld. Defence counsel that FIR in the present case was registered against the accused persons for commission of offence under Section 10 and 13 of UAPA and Section 153A/120B IPC. Offence of Section 10 and 13 of uAPA are not the part of strict restriction on bail under Chapter IV and VI as provided u/s 43-D of UAPA. No previous criminal antecedents of the accused persons have been shown. The offence primarily against the accused persons is about being members of the organisation which was declared unlawful vide notification dated 29.09.2022 and the accused persons were found advocating, abetting and assisting unlawful activities of the banned organisation i.e. Rehab India Foundation, All India Imams Council (AlIC) and PFI by raising slogans and from their possession, incriminating material like flags, pamphlets etc were recovered."

Advocate Mujeeb Ur Rehman, representing the accused, earlier argued before the court that they were unlawfully picked up and detained by the police officials. "It is further submitted that they were infact picked up from the jail itself and were not apprehended from the place as alleged against them," the court recorded in the order.