‘No Material To Show Al Qaeda Links’: Jharkhand HC Grants Bail To Maulana, Who Was Jailed Under UAPA

The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Maulana Kalimuddin Muzahiri, booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his alleged involvement in the activities of Al-Qaeda. The court cited no evidence against the Maulana for the bail.

“No material has been collected with regard to the involvement of the petitioner in any activities of Al-Qaeda outfit nor the Investigating Officer has collected any material with regard to the money given to this petitioner by any Organization, who was involved in unlawful activities,” the court order observed.

The Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is a Maulana and no material was collected during the investigation so as to prove guilt against the petitioner with regard to his involvement in anti-national activities.

The Counsel also submitted that the case of the petitioner is entirely different from that of other co-accused. They stated that he has been made accused on the ground that a meeting was held at his house and that money was received by the petitioner from Gujarat. However, it was contended that no investigation was done with regard to the money sent to the petitioner for committing anti-national work.

It was also submitted that he went to Saudi Arabia thrice after taking permission from the Government for performing Hajj and subsidies have been taken from the government too. It was argued that no material had been brought on record that the petitioner ever met any extremist outfit in Saudi Arabia.

Lastly, it was submitted that the petitioner was arrested on 22.09.2019, as such, he may be enlarged on bail as the petitioner has no criminal antecedent.

As per the allegations against the petitioner, the co-accused Ahmed Masood Akram Sk and Abdul Rahman met at the house of this petitioner at Sakchi Madarsa, and subsequently, the petitioner got some money from Gujarat for committing anti-national work. On the other hand, the Counsel for the State opposed the prayer for bail and submitted that the petitioner allegedly confessed his guilt that co-accused used to visit his house, where they used to meet and discuss the issues for expanding the network of Al-Qaeda.