Bringing to a close a trial that stretched over a decade, a special NIA court in Lucknow on Thursday convicted alleged Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) operative Qurban Ali in a 2013 terror conspiracy case and sentenced him to five years’ rigorous imprisonment for offences linked to waging war against the nation, forgery and illegal possession of arms.
Event Context
Special judge (NIA) Umeshankar Jindal sentenced Qurban Ali to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹7,000 after convicting him of criminal conspiracy, conspiracy to wage war against the government of India, collecting arms for waging war, forgery and offences under the Arms Act. For the offences of cheating and forgery, the court also awarded him three years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹500. It further prescribed default imprisonment in case of non-payment of the fines.
In its sentencing order, the court directed that all the sentences would run concurrently, ensuring that Qurban Ali serves them simultaneously rather than consecutively. It also ordered that the period already spent by him in judicial custody be set off against the sentence in accordance with law.
Following the conviction, the court ordered the preparation of a conviction warrant and directed prison authorities to keep Qurban Ali lodged in Lucknow District Jail to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Qurban Ali was convicted under sections 120B, 121A, 122, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with sections 3, 5, 25, 30 and 35 of the Arms Act, after the court held that the prosecution had proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
