Irfan, Ilyas acquitted of UAPA charges after 9yrs but many still languish in jails

Mumbai: Despite several court warnings against the indiscrete use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, several innocent people belonging to the Muslim community, activists who stand for the rights of Dalit and tribal people are still languishing in jails across the country.

Years would be divested from their lives until they are out from all charges after being proven not guilty. While charging UAPA on people solely depends on the discretion of the investigation officers, the onus to prove they are innocent is solely depends on the accused. Most such people are still counting their days as under trial prisoners.

On Tuesday, two such releases happened in Maharashtra, unfortunately, their arrests under the UAPA in 2012 were news for mainstream media but the sheen of the case lost over the years into escaping their release from media eyes.

The 38-year-old Mohammed Ilyas and the 33-year-old Mohammed Irfan were released on Tuesday and it took about nine years for them to be acquitted from all charges, including the one charged under the UAPA.

The National Investigation Agency failed to submit corroborative evidence against both of them in court. Ilyas and Irfan were caught on August 31, 2012, from Nanded along with three others after being branded as a Lashkar-e-Toiba module out there to kill prominent political leaders, police officers and journalists.

The Anti-Terrorist Squad Maharashtra claimed to have seized firearms and inscrutable materials and handed over the case to the NIA in 2013 for further probe. While Ilyas and Irfan were acquitted for lack evidence by the NIA court on Tuesday, the other three Mohammed Akram, Mohammad Muzammil and Mohammed Sadique, were sentenced to ten years imprisonment under the UAPA and Arms Act.

Till their arrest, Ilyas was selling fruits in Nanded and Irfan was running an inverter battery shop. A number of bail applications they had submitted before courts were rejected. Though in 2019, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Irfan, observing that prime facia, there was no evidence to prove his involvement in the case.

But he could only breathe outside air for four months as the Supreme Court stayed his bail on an NIA submission in which it warned the occurrence of commission of offences amounted to jeopardise the national security. Reports said that Irfan was neither intimated about the staying of bail nor given chance to respond to present his claim.

Irfan is said to have remained in the jail till yesterday after being surrendered before a trial court in December 2019. The ATS could only submit in the court the phone calls Irfan made with another accused, Mohammed Muzammil. Muzammil is reported to have been running an auto parts shop near Irfan's shop.