– Zaina Aman
16 May 2024: In a significant development, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has granted bail to 11 Muslim men who were arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on suspicion of links with banned terror organizations, including Al Qaeda and its Indian counterparts.
The two-judge bench, consisting of Justices Attau Rahman Masoodi and Manish Kumar Nigam, reached this decision after thoroughly reviewing the case and considering arguments from both the prosecution and the defense. They concluded that there was insufficient evidence to justify keeping the accused in custody.
According to Advocate Furkan Pathan, who represented the 11 accused, the prosecution failed to substantiate its claims and neglected to produce the accused in court when required, resulting in the court granting default bail.
Another counsel, Saif Ali, pointed out that the prosecution could not provide information about the presence of banned organizations in India, which further weakened their case.
Default bail, granted automatically when investigations are not completed within the allotted timeframe, was thus given to the accused.
The men who have been granted bail were apprehended by the Uttar Pradesh ATS on September 26, 2022, and various items including mobile phones, gadgets, laptops, and reading materials were seized during their arrest.
Despite the prosecution producing 45 eyewitnesses in court, the justices found no substantial grounds to justify keeping the accused in custody, as the case against them remained unproven.
