HC grants bail to advocate arrested for alleged links with PFI | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday granted bail to a practicing advocate, Shaikh Sadique Isaq Qureshi, arrested in September 2022 for alleged connection with banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and for allegedly conspiring against the government of India by spreading religious and extremist ideology to establish an Islamic State.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) filed a criminal complaint in 2022 against Qureshi and four others, namely Mazhar Khan, Momin Moinuddin Gulam Hussain alias Moin Mistry, Mohammad Iqbal Ibrahim Khan and Mohammad Asif Adhikari, for arranging programmes at Dharavi, Kurla, Chembur and Trombay, with the alleged objective to establish the rule of their own religion and to substitute the Constitution of India with their own personal law.

According to the agency, while Qureshi and Adhikari educated other associates about the lacunae in law, Khan identified vulnerable youth to recruit them into PFI. Mistry, well versed in computer and mobile phone technology, allegedly educated the members to conceal digital data and equipment from investigating agencies and Iqbal took classes of physical education.

Consequently, on January 16, 2023, the additional chief secretary to the home department accorded sanctions for prosecution against Qureshi and others, for taking cognisance by the competent court under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A separate sanction was issued on January 18, 2023, by the state government for prosecution under the provision of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure).

The charge sheet mentioned that PFI was planning to reach out to Muslim households to bring them under their umbrella and to constantly remind them of the injustice meted out to them in the country. “Sometimes, violence was to be resorted to, and the trained members were to be given special training for use of explosives,” the charge sheet stated. “The aim was to finish those who oppose PFI.”

Senior counsel Mihir Desai and advocate Hasnain Kazi, appearing for Qureshi, submitted that the acts attributed to him did not attract any ingredient of any of the sections applied in the case. Highlighting that Qureshi was a practising advocate, Desai pointed out that he was only educating the members of PFI about their legal rights, which could not be termed as an offence. “Moreover, he has been incarcerated for over two and a half years, with no charges framed against him yet,” Desai added, while urging the court to grant him bail.

On the other hand, additional public prosecutor JP Yagnik submitted that the material recovered during the investigation includes a vital document in the nature of ‘roadmap’ titled, ‘Draft booklet on roadmap for regaining the glory of Islam in India by 2047’, showcasing the objective of PFI and highlighting a wide conspiracy of serious threats to the security of the nation.

After considering the submissions put forth, the division bench of justices Sarang V. Kotwal and S.M. Modak observed that Qureshi never acted in support of the PFI objectives, and no incriminating material was found with him. “Witness statements highlight that Qureshi distributed books to poor students in 2018 and took part in a PFI demonstration in 2020. This statement is hardly incriminating against him,” the bench stated.

The court ruled that the witness statements prove that Qureshi was giving speeches about legal awareness to make the members aware of their rights and how to respond when the police came for inquiry. “This cannot be termed as an anti-national activity,” the bench said. It observed that Qureshi deserves to be granted bail, with the stringent conditions of the UAPA not applicable to him.