New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday extended the custody parole of Ibrahim Puthanathani, the National Coordinator of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and a defendant in a UAPA case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for organising and conducting arms training camps in various states.
A division bench of Justices Jasmeet Singh and Vikas Mahajan allowed the extension for him to attend his elder daughter’s wedding in Kerala for a duration of six hours, instead of the initially granted four hours.
A trial court had previously granted custody parole to the accused for four hours to attend his daughter’s wedding, but he approached the high court to challenge the trial court’s decision and request interim bail.
While the vacation bench declined to grant him interim bail, it disposed of Puthanathani’s plea, extending the custody parole from four to six hours.
Appearing for the accused, Advocate Kartik Venu argued that he needed to fulfill various responsibilities before and after the wedding, rather than being a mere spectator.
He further submitted that while the allegations against his client were serious, he posed no flight risk in attending his daughter’s wedding.
Opposing the bench’s initial decision of extending the custody parole period to 12 hours, special public prosecutor for the NIA objected, citing relevant rules that allow for a maximum extension of six hours.
Consequently, the court said that since the applicant has to go to Kerala where the marriage of his daughter is scheduled for June 18 and the expenses are to be borne by the applicant, it is inclined to extend the custody parole from four hours to six hours, but with all other conditions imposed by the special NIA court remaining unchanged.
The court allowed and disposed of the application accordingly.
The NIA has alleged that various members of the PFI were conspiring and collecting funds from India and abroad to carry out terrorist activities in multiple states and were involved in radicalising and recruiting Muslim youth for proscribed organisations such as ISIS.
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