Alleged supporter of ISIS gets bail; Big comment on 'terrorist act' in the order of Madras High Court

Madras High Court passes order granting bail to alleged ISIS supporter. Can the killing of Hindu religious leaders be considered a terrorist act? On this question, the division bench of Justice S.S. Sundar and Justice Sundar Mohan said, this question should be 'debated' in detail. In the context of this particular case, after hearing the bail plea of the alleged ISIS supporter, the court ordered the release of the accused with several conditions.

According to the prosecution, Asif Mustaheen, who has appealed for bail, is a resident of Erode. Police allege that Asif was looking to target leaders of Hindu organizations in and around that area. According to the arguments given against the bail, Asif is accused of illegal activities. For the purpose of carrying out his plan, Asif also wanted to become a member of the banned organization - Islamic State and for this he is in constant touch with another accused.

In the arguments given before the division bench of Madras High Court in opposition to the bail petition, it was said that messages were exchanged between the two in Arabic language. These show that he was conspiring to harm the unity and integrity of India. Wanted to kill members of Hindu organizations. The prosecution has charged Asif under sections 18 and 38(2) of the UAPA Act.

However, rejecting the arguments against bail, the court said, there is no indication from the messages exchanged that Asif had become a part of the banned organization - ISIS. The Madras High Court said in its order that even if it is assumed that Asif is an ISIS member, the text messages only indicate that he wanted to be close to another person.

The court made it clear that even if the accused was conspiring to commit another illegal or serious crime; Associating a person with or claiming to be associated with a terrorist organization on the basis of proximity to someone is a different situation. Apart from the messages, the police have recovered two knives, the bench said. Apart from this, the prosecution also relied on photographs of Asif holding a knife and an unidentified man holding a severed head to prove its charges.