Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Man Booked For 'Propagating' The Concept Of Islamic State

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted bail to one, Mohammad Rashid Khan, who has been booked for 'propagating' the concept of Islamic State and instigating people to instigate the persons to indulge in violence and other anti national activities.

The Bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Singh granted him bail looking into the nature of the accusation, the severity of punishment in case of conviction, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge, reformative theory of punishment, and larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

The Accused Khan has been booked under Sections 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against Government of India), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (Forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), and 120B (Punishment of Criminal Conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

It was contended by the counsel for the applicant, SFA Naqvi that Khan had been falsely implicated in the present case and that he had never conducted any training camp in any place including Maharashtra and never kept any document, literature or CD to propagate the concept of Islamic State.

It was also submitted that he never instigated people to indulge in violence or in any anti-national activity. Lastly, it was contended that the controversial material allegedly recovered from Khan had been purposely arranged by the police itself to make out a case.

The Court, after taking into consideration 'overcrowding' of jails during the Covid-19 pandemic and the material placed on record, granted him bail while observing thus:

"Having heard the submissions of learned counsel of both sides, nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge, reformative theory of punishment, and larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the dictum of Apex Court in the case of Dataram Singh v. State of U.P. and another, reported in (2018) 2 SCC 22 and without expressing any opinion on the merit of the case, I find it to be a case of bail."

Case title - Mohammad Rashid Khan v. State of U.P.

Click Here To Download Order

Read Order