[UAPA] Punjab & Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Woman Booked For Harbouring Man Allegedly Conspiring To Set Up Separate State

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has granted bail to a 58-year-old woman booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) allegedly for harbouring a man accused of hatching a criminal conspiracy to set up a separate state in 2019.

A division bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Kirti Singh noted that the woman "had helped the co-accused Kulwinderjit Singh @ Khanpuria flee the country and had facilitated his stay at Cambodia. These allegations of harbouring the co- accused Kulwinderjit Singh @ Khanpuria pertain to the period from January 2019 to March 2019. It is true that Kulwinderjit Singh @ Khanpuria had been arraigned as an accused in the cases prior to this period but he had not been declared as a proclaimed offender at that time."

The Court also noted that the appellant has not been declared as a terrorist to date and she is a 58-year-old lady and has been in custody for a period of 04 years and 08 months since her arrest in August 2019. No recovery of any incriminating material has been effected from her as yet, it added.

Referring to K.A. Najeeb Vs. Union of India, the Court said "We are conscious of the fact that to grant bail to an accused under the UAP Act, the conditions specified under Section 43-D have to be satisfied." 

However, the Supreme Court had held that an accused under the UAPA can be enlarged on bail in terms of Article 21 of the Constitution of India in view of the long custody as an undertrial, it added.

The Court was hearing an appeal against an order passed by a NIA Court wherein under Sections 4, 5 of the Explosive Substance Act, Section 13, 17, 18, 18-B, 19, 20, 23 of the UAPA and Section 120-B IPC, registered at Amritsar District, Punjab vide which the regular bail application of Manjit Kaur, had been dismissed.

It was submitted that Kaur has been arraigned as an accused on the ground that she had harboured the co-accused, Kulwinderjit Singh @ Khanpuria who had hatched a criminal conspiracy with other co-accused for setting up a separate state.

After hearing the submissions, the Court noted that Khanpuria had not been declared a proclaimed offender when Kaur allegedly arranged for the travel and facilitated her stay in Cambodia.

Reliance was placed on a recent case of Shoma Kanti Sen Vs. State of Maharashtra, wherein the Court granted bail to former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen who is booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.

The Court said, "The Supreme Court in the case of K.A. Najeeb Vs. Union of India (supra) had held that an accused under the UAP Act can be enlarged on bail in terms of Article 21 of the Constitution of India in view of the long custody as an undertrial. This view of the Supreme Court has been reiterated in the case of Shoma Kanti Sen Vs. State of Maharashtra, Criminal Appeal..."

In light of the above, the Court decided that the appellant, who is a 58 years old lady, has been in custody for over 04 years and 08 months, would be entitled to be released on bail at this stage when only 12 out of 55 prosecution witnesses have been examined and the conclusion of the trial would take some time.

Consequently, the instant appeal was allowed and the order passed by the Special Judge, NIA Punjab, SAS Nagar (Mohali) was set aside.

Bhanu Partap Singh, Advocate for the appellant.

Sukhdeep Singh Sandhu, Special Prosecutor for NIA.

Title: MANJIT KAUR v. NIA

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (PH) 133

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