Read Time: 05 minutes
Mohd. Mustaqeem was allegedly a mason by profession and Mohammad Shakeel was allegedly working as an e-rickshaw driver prior to their arrest.
In a case pertaining to a conspiracy to carry out a pressure cooker bombing in Lucknow, the Allahabad High Court recently granted bail to two alleged terrorists.
Accused Mohd. Mustaqeem and Mohammad Shakeel were arrested last year. Allegedly, Mustaqeem was a mason by profession whereas Shakeel was an e-rickshaw driver.
The bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masood and Justice Om Prakash Shukla granted relief to the two accused considering their unblemished past antecedents and the period of one year and eight months spent by them in custody.
The two accused had filed criminal appeals before the high court after the NIA court rejected their bail pleas. The FIR in the matter was lodged under Sections 120B IPC and Section 25 (1B)(a) Arms Act. After the lodging of the FIR, Mustaqeem and Shakeel were apprehended on July 14, 2021.
The counsel for the two accused apprised the court that the investigation in the matter had already been concluded and the charge sheet had been submitted before the special court.
Once the purpose of investigation with the collection of relevant material has been served, the curtailment of liberty of the appellants any further, that too in a situation where the trial is to take a long time for the list of witnesses being lengthy, the prolonged incarceration is hit by Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the counsel contended.
He further argued that the offences for which the appellants had been charged for facing trial were to be proved during the course of trial and the benefit of Section 43-E of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 was not available to them.
Furthermore, the counsel argued that even otherwise, the charges framed were not covered within the scope of the schedule appended to the NIA Act, therefore, the detention of the appellants any further will amount to violation of their liberty.
The counsel for the NIA though vehemently opposed the prayer for bail, however, the factual position as aforesaid could not be dispelled satisfactorily.
Therefore, the court opined that a case for grant of bail is made out in favour of the accused persons.
Case Title: Mohd. Mustaqeem v. State through NIA and Connected matter
Please Login or Register
