New Delhi, 18 July (H.S.):

The Patiala House Court in Delhi has granted bail to Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Principal and Sessions Judge Peetambar Dutt passed the order directing the release of both accused on bail.

The bail order has cleared the way for Khurram Parvez’s release. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had granted him bail in a terror funding case. A vacation bench headed by Justice Navin Chawla had observed that Parvez had remained in custody for more than four years and that there was little possibility of an early conclusion of the trial.

The High Court had also noted that Parvez had lost a leg in a landmine explosion in 2004 and was physically vulnerable, requiring special care and attention. While granting bail, the court directed him to surrender his passport and barred him from leaving Delhi without prior permission. The court had also instructed him not to make any public statements related to the case.

Khurram Parvez is the programme coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and the chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD). He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on November 22, 2021.

According to the NIA, Parvez allegedly operated an overground workers’ network in coordination with a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative under the cover of human rights activities to facilitate terrorist operations in India.

The NIA registered the case in November 2021. According to the agency, terrorists associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba based in Pakistan allegedly conspired with Khurram Parvez, Munir Ahmad Qataria, Arshid Ahmad Tonch and Zafar Abbas to further the activities of the banned organisation and establish a network for carrying out terror-related activities in India.

The agency has alleged that the accused collected information regarding security force installations, deployments and movements and shared it with Lashkar-e-Taiba. The NIA also alleged that a government official from Himachal Pradesh misused his official position and provided documents to the accused.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar