Bombay High Court cancels bail of former police officer accused under UAPA in explosives-and-murder case

Allowing an appeal by the National Investigation Agency under Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court set aside a trial court order granting bail to a former Assistant Police Inspector facing trial for offences including murder and conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Court held that the Special Judge had misapplied the law on bail under the UAPA's special provisions. Section 43D(5) of the UAPA requires a court to be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing the accusation is 'prima facie true' before granting bail, a standard lighter than proving guilt but stricter than under ordinary criminal law, and it obliges the court to weigh the totality of the material gathered by the investigating agency rather than dissect individual pieces of evidence, as the Supreme Court held in National Investigation Agency v. Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.

Applying that standard, the Bench found the material against the accused sufficient to show reasonable grounds that the accusation was prima facie true, and held that the argument of prolonged pre-trial incarceration alone cannot outweigh those considerations where a serious UAPA charge is involved and the trial is set to commence. The bail order was accordingly quashed.