Journalist Asif Sultan was granted bail by a special NIA court on Wednesday after five years in prison in a case related to violence by Srinagar Central Jail inmates in 2019. The court ruled there was no point in keeping him under detention.
An assistant editor with Srinagar-based magazine Kashmir Narrator, Sultan was first arrested in 2018 after his article on slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was published.
The J&K and Ladakh High Court had in 2022 quashed his detention order under the Public Safety Act (PSA), calling it "illegal".
However, Sultan was arrested shortly after his release from a UP Jail by the J&K police in a separate case of 2019 related to violence in Srinagar Central Jail.
The police charge sheet was submitted in connection with a firefight in which a police officer was killed by terrorists in Srinagar's Batamaloo area. The terrorists managed to flee .
The NIA court stated that the state had the rights to deal with such allegations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967. However, "mere use of this statutory provision wouldn’t ipso-facto (by that very fact) deny the applicant's right to bail and ignore the other binding requirements."
The court order said "the impediment contained under chapters VI and VI of the ULA (P) Act is not attracted in the present case."
"In the humble opinion of the court, the occurrence took place more than 5 years ago, and sufficient time of approximately 2 ½ months (72 days) has been given to the investigating agency for the custodial interrogation of the accused/applicant (Asif)," read the court order, adding, "The accused or applicant was already under PSA until February 2024."
The court said it had not been brought to its attention that the accused individual’s conduct in judicial custody did not justify his release on bail.
"Further detention of the accused person or applicant in custody shall not serve any purpose," the court said, allowing bail to Asif on furnishing a bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety in the same amount.
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