Greeva Garg –
In the midst of granting bail to Jamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, Delhi High Court held that “Foundation of our nation on a surer footing cannot be shaken by the protest organised by a tribe of college students.”
Delhi High Court also cautioned police against the use of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), when prima facie no offence is made out against him under the anti-terror laws.
The court observed that the grave penal provisions under UAPA are meant to address serious threats that exist in the nation.
They warned police by observing that such an approach will undermine the intent and purpose of the Parliament in enacting laws.
In the objective reading of allegations in the charge sheet, the High Court observed that it lacked specific and factual allegations on Tanha to be arrested under stringent anti-terror laws.
The Court asserted that the ‘terrorist act’ defined under UAPA sought to be differentiated by the conventional and heinous crimes that fall under the provisions of IPC.
“In our opinion, the intent and purport of Parliament in enacting the UAPA, and more specifically in amending it in 2004 and 2008 to bring the terrorist activity within its scope, was, and could only have had been, to deal with matters of profound impact on the ‘Defence of India’, nothing more and nothing less.”
The court rejected the allegations on Tanha under various provisions of UAPA and observed that students’ protest cannot disrupt the community and nation’s foundation.