NIA appeals against bail granted in Maoist case

Agency says it will affect national security

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has moved the Kerala High Court challenging the bail granted to Alan Shuhaib and Thaha Fazal in the Pantheerankavu Maoist case.

The release of the accused, the agency argued, would lead to social unrest and give out a wrong message to terrorists and their outfits, besides adversely affecting the national security.

The prosecution could substantiate that the materials seized and recovered from the accused consisted of highly objectionable and volatile literature exhorting society to resort to violent civil war in support of the cause propagated by the CPI(Maoist). The documents also revealed the membership and active involvement of the accused in terrorist activities, it said.

Even though the trial court prima facie accepted the veracity of the documents and forensic evidence, it made an erroneous analysis of the categorisation of evidence on the wrong application of law and granted bail to the accused. The order of the trial court militated against the settled law in various cases, the NIA contended.

The trial court indiscriminately granted bail to the accused after seeking to simplify the gravity of the offences and ignoring the strong prima facie materials furnished by the prosecution. The trial court happened to overlook the fact that granting of bail would undermine the very objective of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, it said.

A critical consideration of the bail order would shadow many instances when the court was carried away with the misplaced notions of liberty and sympathy in oblivion of the larger consequential pitfalls and perils of national interest, the NIA argued.

The bail granted to the accused in respect of the serious offences was totally improper and perverse and required a more objective appreciation of facts and application of law, it said.

The High Court posted the case for Monday.

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