Slow trial violates right to liberty: SC grants bail to two UAPA suspects after 12 years in custody

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to two men who had been in jail for 12 years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, observing that there was no immediate prospect of the trial concluding, Live Law reported.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta held that the continued incarceration of the suspects amounted to a violation of their fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The court has directed the release on bail of Mohammed Saquib Ansari and Waqar Azhar, subject to conditions imposed by the trial court and provided they were not required in any other case, the legal news outlet reported.

The case stems from the arrest of a suspected Indian Mujahideen member in November 2011, who allegedly disclosed the existence of a Rajasthan module of the banned outfit during interrogation.

Based on his disclosures, investigators allegedly recovered explosives and materials suspected to have been used for making improvised explosive devices from premises linked to Ansari in Jodhpur and Azhar in Jaipur.

They were arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in March 2014, ANI reported.

The recoveries led to the registration of two separate first information reports in Rajasthan. Ansari and Azhar were also named as accused in the FIR registered by the Delhi Police Special...

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