Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Sept 25: High Court today granted bail to two persons on the production of personal bond and surety bond who were allegedly involved in unlawful activities.
Justice M K Hanjura while granting bail to Farooq Ahmad Sheikh and Zahid Ali Lone said the mere inducement and not incitement which is the main ingredient of Section 13 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, as stated in the FIR, prima-facie justifies the grant of bail in their favour and directed they shall be released on bail on the production of a personal bond to the tune of Rs. 60,000 each with a surety of the like amount each to the satisfaction of Principal District and Sessions Judge Kulgam.
Court directed both be released on bail subject to the condition that they will join the investigation as and when required by the police and that they will not tamper with the evidence or hamper the investigation of the case in any manner.
Justice Hanjura while referring various judgments on granting bail said the democratic depth and breadth of India is its beauty. Freedom of speech and expression is the soul of our democratic and secular fabric which is a dream for a great number of people living on this planet.
“The might of our great India is not so weak that by using a few nonproductive and ego satisfying slogans the people will be scared even by a grain of fear that their levies will be put at a peril. Ours is a pluralist, multilingual, multi-linguistic and a heterogeneous country where the rights that are fundamental in nature flow to all on the same platter. The citizens of India believe in cohesiveness and not disruption except for some minor aberrations”, reads the judgment
Police authorities on August 4 came to know from a reliable source that the petitioners, along with others, raised unwarranted slogans, with the object to induce the youth of the adjoining areas to indulge in rioting and join the militant ranks to accomplish the ultimate aim of seceding the State of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India and a case for offences under Section 153 RPC and Section 13 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, bearing FIR No. 69/2017, was registered at the Police Station D. H. Pora, District Kulgam, where the investigation commenced.
Justice Hanjura further added that individual rights, liberties and privileges have to be balanced as these are of paramount importance. Arrest and detention in custody can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person. Bail cannot be withheld as a means of punishment.
“Prisons hell destroys the tender sentiments of a person and to cap it all it is only in cases where the punishment provided is death or imprisonment for life that bail can be withheld and in all other cases, subject to any restrictions imposed by law, grant of bail is the rule and its refusal an exception”, reads the judgment.
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