Delhi HC grants bail to Kashmiri activist Khuram in UAPA case
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Kashmiri human rights activist Khuram Parvez in a case under the anti-terror law.
A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja took note of Parvez’s over-four-year incarceration in the case and the unlikelihood of the trial concluding soon to hold that his rights under Article 21 of the Constitution trumped the restriction on bail under section 43D (5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The bench further observed that, having lost his leg in a landmine blast in 2004, the accused is infirm and deserves “special consideration”.
The court set aside a trial court’s December 2024 order rejecting Parvez’s bail plea and ordered, “We direct that the appellant be released on bail in RC No. 30/2021/NIA/DLI, P.S. NIA, in NIA/4/2022 on conditions.”
The court asked Parvez to surrender his passport, not leave Delhi without the trial court’s permission and regularly report to the investigating officer.
It also directed him not to make any public statement on the case or participate in activities prejudicial to public order or the trial’s integrity, or “upload/share/disseminate or circulate any anti-national material”.
Parvez, the programme coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and the chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on November 22, 2021.
The NIA had alleged that under the guise of human-rights activism, Parvez conspired with a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative to run a network of overground workers (OGWs) for furthering the activities of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation and committing terror acts in India.
It had alleged that Parvez was actively involved in collecting information regarding the movement of Army vehicles near the Line of Control (LoC), road conditions and details of Army camps, structures of the Army, paramilitary and police, etc.
The NIA has charge-sheeted Parvez for several offences, including under sections 13 (punishment for unlawful activities), 18 (punishment for conspiracy etc.), 18B (punishment for recruiting of any person or persons for terrorist act), 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of the UAPA and other sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.
