Bombay HC upholds bail to alleged ISIS member Areeb Majeed

The HC said the right to a fair trial is a constitutional one

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday upheld a special court's order granting bail to 27-year-old Areeb Majeed, accused of having links with the Islamic State (ISIS) terror network.

A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale disposed of an appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), challenging the special court's order granting bail to alleged ISIS member Majeed.

In March last year, Majeed was granted bail by the NIA court which noted the pace of trial was slow and that the prosecution had not succeeded in proving its prima facie case against the accused. The HC said while it was upholding the lower court's order granting bail on grounds of pendency of trial, it was quashing observations made by it (lower court) on merits of the case. The order said while Majeed's case on slow trial appears to be on a "firm footing", the special NIA court's observation with regard to no prima facie case established at this stage was "flawed".

The HC noted that the right to fair and speedy trial is a constitutional right and if after a lengthy trial the accused is found not guilty, then the years spent by him or her as undertrial can never be given back to them. It said in cases where a person is booked for serious and heinous offences, courts are required to perform a balancing act.

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