New Delhi, The NIA has not dropped terror charges under the Unlawful Activities Act against seven foreign nationals one American and six Ukrainians and its probe under the anti-terror law is continuing, government sources said on Wednesday.
The accused were due to complete 180 days in judicial custody on September 8 and would have become eligible for default bail if the chargesheet had not been filed, the sources said.
The National Investigation Agency has filed a chargesheet against US national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke and the six Ukrainians under the Immigration and Foreigners Act , as the offences under that law had been “fully established” during the investigation so far, the sources said. The agency has also mentioned in its first chargesheet that the investigation under the UA is continuing, they said. “The law also permits further investigation after filing of a chargesheet and the filing of a supplementary chargesheet where additional evidence establishes further offences,” an official said. Since the offences under the IFA had been established, the NIA went ahead with filing its first chargesheet rather than allowing the statutory bail period to expire, they said. “This should not be confused with the closure of larger investigation… therefore, the fact that the UA provisions are not part of the IFA chargesheet does not mean that the UA investigation has been withdrawn, abandoned or closed,” an official said. The sources said US diplomats raising the case of one of its detained citizens was also “normal diplomatic practice”.
