Delhi HC grants bail to grandson of late Congress MLA Idinabba in UAPA case

The Delhi High Court granted bail to an alleged Islamic State supporter charged under the anti-terror law UAPA, saying his “fascination” with the banned terrorist organisation cannot be dubbed as his association with it.

The Delhi High Court on May 6 granted bail to an alleged Islamic State (IS) supporter charged under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), saying his “fascination” with the banned terrorist organisation cannot be dubbed as his association with it.

The Bench said Ammar Abdul Rahiman, grandson of the late Congress MLA B.M. Idinabba from Karnataka, was at best a “highly radicalised person” who believed in the IS ideology and was merely downloading and storing certain allegedly objectionable contents on his mobile phone.

“At best, the appellant [Mr. Rahiman] was highly radicalised and had downloaded pro-IS material and was accessing the sermons of Muslim hardliner but that would not be enough to attract Section 38 [offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation] and 39 [offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation] of the UAPA,” the court stated.

The Bench said there was nothing to indicate that Mr. Rahiman, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on August 4, 2021 from Ullal in Mangaluru, made any endeavour to further disseminate these.

“Merely because the mobile device of the appellant was found carrying incriminating material, including photographs of terrorist Osama bin Laden, Jihad Promotion, IS flags, etc. and he was also accessing lectures of hardliner/Muslim preachers would not be enough to brand him as a member of such terrorist organisation, much less his being acting in furtherance of its cause,” the court said.

“Such type of incriminating material, in today’s electronic era, is freely available on World Wide Web (www) and mere accessing the same and even downloading the same would not be sufficient to hold that he had associated himself with the IS,” the court said.

“Any curious mind can access and even download such content. That act by itself, to us, appears to be no crime,” the Bench said, while allowing Mr. Rahiman’s appeal against a trial court order refusing to release him on bail.