The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the bail granted to human rights activist Khuram Parvez from Jammu and Kashmir in a case under the anti-terror law.
The NIA alleged that Parvez was actively involved in collecting information regarding the movement of army vehicles near the Line of Control, road conditions and details of army camps, structures of the army, paramilitary and police etc. Parvez, programme coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, was arrested by the NIA on November 22, 2021.
The NIA’s plea challenging the high court verdict came up for hearing on Friday before a bench of justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale. The Delhi high court had on June 10 granted him bail in the case. In its verdict, the high court had taken note of Parvez’s over-four-year incarceration in the case and the unlikelihood of the trial concluding soon to hold that his rights under Article 21 of the Constitution trumped the restriction on bail under section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). It had set aside a trial court’s December 2024 order rejecting Parvez’s bail plea.
Parvez has denied the allegations. The bench refused to interfere with the high court judgment.
The high court had further observed that having lost his leg in a landmine blast in 2004, the accused was infirm and deserves “special consideration”.
Parvez’s counsel had contended before the high court that mere statements against him without conclusive evidence did not make out a prima-facie case under the UAPA.
