UAPA Accused In Custody Since 3 Yrs, Only One Of 54 Witnesses Examined: Calcutta High Court Grants Bail

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted bail to an accused in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after observing that there has been an inordinate delay in conclusion of the trial, thereby infringing upon the accused’s fundamental rights.

A division bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta took into consideration that the accused had spent three years in custody and that there is no certainty as to when the trial would conclude.

Observing that the conclusion of trial is a far cry, the Bench underscored,

“Petitioner is in custody for about three years. Only one witness has been examined till date. 54 witnesses are cited in the charge sheet and it is left to one’s imagination when the trial will conclude. Co-accuseds were advised to plead guilty and have been sentenced to term imprisonment i.e. five years and nine months. Petitioner stands on a better footing than the co-accuseds. He does not have criminal antecedents. No explosive substance was recovered from his possession. As the petitioner has suffered incarceration for almost half of the sentence awarded to the co-accuseds in the same case and the possibility of conclusion of trial is a far cry, we are inclined to enlarge the petitioner on bail subject to strict conditions.”

The Court placed reliance on Supreme Court judgments in the cases of Union of India Vs. K. A. Najeeb and Ashim Vs. NIA wherein it had been held that a plea for bail on the ground of inordinate delay is not fettered by the restrictions under Section 43D(5) of UAPA.

Upon perusal of the record, the Bench also noted that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh i.e. JMB was not declared a terrorist organisation at the time of registration of FIR and that the petitioner was arrested in 2020 when the organisation had already been declared as a ‘terrorist organisation’ under UAPA.

Upholding the fundamental right to a speedy trial, the Court opined,

“Though it cannot be said that there are no materials against the petitioner to proceed with the trial, a more seminal issue is raised with regard to inordinate delay in trial infracting the petitioner’s fundamental right to speedy trial.”

Accordingly, the Court granted bail to the accused on the following conditions,

"Accordingly, petitioner viz., Sk. Rejaul @ Kiran @ Rutu shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.25,000/- with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Chief Judge, City Sessions Court, Calcutta subject to condition that he shall appear before the trial court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever and on further condition that the petitioner while on bail shall not remain within the municipal limits of the city of Kolkata and shall provide the address where he shall presently reside to the Investigating Agency as well as the court below and shall report to the Officer-in-charge of the Police Station within whose jurisdiction he shall presently reside once in a week until further orders."

Advocates Jhuma Sen and Masum Ali Sardar appeared on behalf of the petitioner. Advocates Ranabir Roy Chowdhury and Sandip Chakrabarty represented the State.

Case Title: In the matter of : Sk. Rejaul @ Kiran @ Rutu

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Cal) 6

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