Delhi HC refuses interim bail to jailed PFI leader to meet family before Haj travel

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim bail to jailed Popular Front of India PFI leader Anis Ahmed, who wanted to meet his mother and other family members before they left for Haj. A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Madhu Jain stated that although Haj was of immense importance, the mere travel of family members for the pilgrimage was not a sufficient ground to release Ahmed on interim bail in the case under anti-terror law UAPA.

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim bail to jailed Popular Front of India (PFI) leader Anis Ahmed, who wanted to meet his mother and other family members before they left for Haj. A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Madhu Jain stated that although Haj was of immense importance, the mere travel of family members for the pilgrimage was not a sufficient ground to release Ahmed on interim bail in the case under anti-terror law UAPA. Ahmed sought interim bail for six days, saying that Haj was part of his cultural customs and it was usual for family members to meet and seek blessings from those people travelling for the pilgrimage. He assailed a trial court order passed on March 27, refusing to grant him interim bail. ''While there can be no doubt that the Haj pilgrimage is a religious pilgrimage which is of immense importance and is a very pious trip for those who are undertaking it, the mere travel of family members for the Haj pilgrimage and for the appellant to meet them is not sufficient ground to release the appellant on interim bail,'' the court said in the order passed on May 5. ''Under these circumstances, the prayer for interim bail is rejected and appeal is dismissed,'' it ruled. The court further observed that the grant of interim bail entailed Ahmed's travel to Bengaluru from Delhi, which could result in a security threat at the airports and considering his alleged role in the charge sheet and the organisation, it was not inclined to release him on interim bail. The court noted that according to the records, the appellant was an office bearer of PFI at the national level and was overseeing all its administrative work across the country and there were ''various apprehensions'' considering the position he was holding. ''According to the said charge sheet, the appellant was also involved in radicalising and recruiting Muslims and providing weapon training. The activities of the PFI were being actively run by the appellant, who is also alleged to be in conspiracy with unlawful organisations and also involved in unlawful terrorist acts,'' it said. The NIA opposed by plea for interim bail, stating that the appellant was a senior member of PFI, a banned organization, and his release was likely to create disturbances and disharmony. According to the NIA, PFI, its officer bearers and members hatched a criminal conspiracy to raise funds for committing acts of terror in various parts of the country and were conducting training camps to indoctrinate and train their cadres for this purpose. In near-simultaneous raids across the country as part of a multi-agency operation spearheaded by the NIA, a large number of PFI activists were detained or arrested in 11 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country. The government banned the PFI and several of its associate organisations on September 28, 2022 for five years under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA, accusing them of having ''links'' with global terror groups like the ISIS.