No proof of terror links or conspiracy: Delhi court acquits IM suspect, aide

A Delhi court has acquitted Abdul Subhan Qureshi suspected key Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative linked by investigators to the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the 2008 Gujarat blasts and his associate Ariz Khan, holding that the prosecution failed to produce any admissible evidence to establish their membership of banned outfits or their involvement in a terror conspiracy.

The case, registered in 2014 under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for conspiracy related to a terrorist act and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy), culminated in their acquittal after the court found the charges to be unsupported by legally sustainable material.

Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal of the Patiala House Courts, in an order issued recently observed that there was “absolutely no admissible material on record” to raise even a grave suspicion that the two accused had conspired to revive the banned Indian Mujahideen or the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), or that they had acted against the sovereignty and security of India.

“…There is absolutely no admissible material on record in the charge sheet of the present case to show or raise a grave suspicion against both the accused persons that they entered into a conspiracy to revive activity of banned terrorist organisations SIMI and IM in India, or that they were members of the said banned terrorist organisations, or that they entered into any conspiracy against the sovereignty and security of India,” the court held.

Qureshi was arrested from the Ghazipur area of east Delhi on January 23, 2018, while Khan — who had allegedly fled the country following the 2008 Batla House encounter — was apprehended at the India-Nepal border on February 14, 2018.

The court was critical of the prosecution’s reliance on disclosure and confessional statements, noting that such statements made to police officers or while in police custody are inadmissible in the absence of any recovery or discovery of facts pursuant to them.

“It seems from the charge sheet that the main material on record against the accused persons is their disclosure/ confessional statements and further a list of cases and copies of charge sheets of other cases wherein the accused are involved,” the judge said, adding that no fact was discovered as a consequence of these statements, rendering them legally inadmissible.

The court further ruled that merely placing on record a list of other cases and charge sheets against the accused did not give rise to any grave suspicion in the present matter. It also noted that the prosecution’s witness list largely comprised duty officers and record clerks intended to prove FIRs of other cases, which, the court said, did not advance the prosecution’s case.

Referring to the background of the investigation, the court noted that following an accidental blast in Bijnor on September 12, 2014, security agencies had intensified efforts in Delhi and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh to trace absconding SIMI operatives and their alleged contacts.

On October 20, 2014, police claimed to have received source information suggesting that suspects linked to the Bijnor blast were planning terrorist activities in and around Delhi. However, the court held that these assertions were not backed by admissible evidence.

The court ordered that both accused be released from judicial custody if not required in any other case. Both Qureshi and Khan continue to face proceedings in separate cases.