Days after PFI and its associate organisations were banned by the government of India, nationwide raids and arrests happened. On 7.01.23 the Hon’ble Additional District and Sessions Judge, Special Judge NIA/ATS Lucknow granted bail to one such accused Abdullah Saud Ansari.
The applicant is a 27-year-old poor labourer who works for a living and booked under various sections of IPC and UAPA . He was charged in FIR 229 / 2022 PS Lohta ,District Varanasi under section 153A, 153B of Indian Penal Code and sections 7,8,13(1)(a)(b) and 13(2) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He was languishing in jail since 30.09.2022 on the allegation of being an active member of PFI an organisation banned by the government of India. It was alleged that the appellant has been working as an active member of PFI from the year 2017.
The learned counsel for the applicant contended that the prosecution falsely implicated the applicant and that there is no past criminal history. The counsel also argued that the applicant went to the concerned police station to cooperate with the investigating officer however, he was illegally detained and taken to judicial remand without giving any information to his family which is a direct violation of Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Further, it was argued that the police put a lot of pressure on the applicant and made him sign several plain papers. However Investigating officer finds no evidence to prove the connection of the accused to the banned organisation. Neither his mobile nor other documents on record revealed any suspicious anti-national activities.
The counsel relied upon the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Satendra Kumar Antil vs Central Bureau of Investigation and others and Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar and others.
The Hon’ble court grants him bail on furnishing a bail bond of 50,000 and 2 sureties of the like amount. The learned counsel Najmusaqib Khan, Advocate Azizullah Khan, Advocate Sajid Khan, and Advocate Obaidullah Khan represented the applicant facilitated by Association for the Protection of Civil Rights.
Association for the Protection of Civil Rights(APCR) is continuously providing legal aid to the victims of state repression. We have been involved in pro-bono litigation since its inception. We strongly believe that every accused person is deemed innocent until proven guilty and that “ bail is a rule, jail is an exception”. As stated by the Supreme court of India in a landmark decision in State of Rajasthan vs Balchand alias Baliya (AIR 1977 2447).
