Delhi court allows Red Blast co-conspirator to meet lawyer at NIA HQ

The order followed arguments that NIA officials denied meetings without written directions, after Wani was arrested in J&K and brought to Delhi on transit remand.

A Delhi court on Saturday allowed 20-year-old Jasir Bilal Wani, alleged co-conspirator in the Red Fort blast earlier this month, to meet his legal counsel at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters.

The 20 year old student was detained in Qazigund, then handed to NIA, which claims he provided technical support before the explosion near Red Fort. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The order — passed by principal sessions judge Anju Bajaj Chandna of Patiala House Courts — after an application by Wani’s counsel Kaustabh Chaturvedi, seeking a meeting with him.

The development comes a day after the Delhi High Court had refused to pass an order on the matter and sent it back to the trial court, where the case is currently being heard.

The bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said that the mere fact that the application was not taken on record, or that the trial court declined relief, could not justify establishing that Wani had exhausted all legal remedies before the trial court.

The court had said that Chaturvedi had not placed any written order on record, which showed that the lower court had rejected their request.

Advocate Chaturvedi had argued before the bench that he was not being allowed to meet the accused at the agency’s headquarters, with officials citing lack of written orders by the sessions court. He submitted that the lower court had orally declined the plea and refused to take the matter on record.

Wani, a student of Government Degree College Levodara in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, was initially detained by the state police from Qazigund in Anantnag district last week along with his uncle. He was later arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police and handed over to the NIA, which brought him to Delhi on transit remand. The agency has alleged Wani provided technical support by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets ahead of the blast. A Delhi court on Tuesday sent him to 10-day NIA custody.