The Delhi High Court on May 6 granted bail to an alleged Islamic State (IS) supporter charged under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), saying his “fascination” with the banned terrorist organisation cannot be dubbed as his association with it.
The Bench said Ammar Abdul Rahiman, grandson of the late Congress MLA B.M. Idinabba from Karnataka, was at best a “highly radicalised person” who believed in the IS ideology and was merely downloading and storing certain allegedly objectionable contents on his mobile phone.
“At best, the appellant [Mr. Rahiman] was highly radicalised and had downloaded pro-IS material and was accessing the sermons of Muslim hardliner but that would not be enough to attract Section 38 [offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation] and 39 [offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation] of the UAPA,” the court stated.
The Bench said there was nothing to indicate that Mr. Rahiman, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on August 4, 2021 from Ullal in Mangaluru, made any endeavour to further disseminate these.
“Merely because the mobile device of the appellant was found carrying incriminating material, including photographs of terrorist Osama bin Laden, Jihad Promotion, IS flags, etc. and he was also accessing lectures of hardliner/Muslim preachers would not be enough to brand him as a member of such terrorist organisation, much less his being acting in furtherance of its cause,” the court said.
“Such type of incriminating material, in today’s electronic era, is freely available on World Wide Web (www) and mere accessing the same and even downloading the same would not be sufficient to hold that he had associated himself with the IS,” the court said.
“Any curious mind can access and even download such content. That act by itself, to us, appears to be no crime,” the Bench said, while allowing Mr. Rahiman’s appeal against a trial court order refusing to release him on bail.
The NIA alleged that Mr. Rahiman entered into criminal conspiracy with IS members for undertaking ‘Hijrah’ to Jammu and Kashmir and to carry out the activities of the IS in India.
The agency stated Mr. Rahiman followed pro-IS Instagram account and photographs of global terrorist Osama bin Laden, Jihad promotion, IS flags etc. were also found in his digital devices.
‘Erroneous, misplaced’
The court, however, observed the data which was retrieved from the electronic device/mobile of the appellant do not advance the case of prosecution and the invocation of Section 38 and 39 of the UAPA seemed “erroneous and misplaced” in the present case.
The Bench referred to the Supreme Court judgment in the Bhima Koregaon case, where it observed that mere possession of certain literature, which even inspires or propagates violence, by itself cannot constitute any of the offences within Chapters IV and VI of UAPA.
“Merely because he was following some news items related to Middle East and Israel-Palestine conflict or had been accessing hate speeches of hardline Muslim preachers, would not be enough to hold that he was acting in furtherance of a banned terrorist organisation,” the court said.
The court directed that Mr. Rahiman be released on bail on such terms and conditions as the trial court may consider fit and proper.
