Delhi HC refuses to grant bail to alleged ISIS associate in terror case

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail to an alleged member of ISIS in a terror case by NIA over radicalisation of youths using cyber space.

A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma dismissed the bail plea by Md Heydaitullah, who allegedly used Telegram groups to propagate the ideology of the terrorist group in India and recruit other persons.

The accused challenged a trial court order declining any relief on the ground that mere association or support to a terrorist organisation would not constitute an offence under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The court rejected the contention, and said Heydaitullah, a qualified MBA graduate working at an IT company in Gurugram, was not a "passive" supporter as material showed that he advocated "Jihad in order to establish Khilafat" even through violent means.

"The Appellant admittedly in 2018 had taken an oath (Bayath) in the name of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is admittedly a well-known leader of ISIS and as per the chargesheet had declared formation of 'caliphate' in June 2014," said the court in a judgement passed on January 10.

"ISIS had been declared to be a terrorist organisation and judicial notice can be taken of the fact that the world at large knows about the activities of ISIS.. Appellant is an educated person and was well aware of the nature of activities of ISIS," it added.

Dismissing the plea, the court said the bar on grant of bail under the UAPA was clearly applicable in the case.

Following an FIR registered in 2021, the National Investigation Agency arrested the accused on October 22, 2022.

The prosecution alleged that he disseminated the ISIS ideology through the cyber space and spread hatred against the Government of India by promoting enmity against Hindus on social media.

It was further alleged that he had transferred funds for the cause of ISIS from his bank account and various materials, including the oath of allegiance, methods for preparation of explosive material, etc were recovered from him during the investigation.