Blockades unaccompanied by incitement to violence would not constitute terrorist act, said a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Guwahati on Thursday while discharging Akhil Gogoi, Raijor Dal president and MLA from Sibsagar, Assam, in connection with a case related to anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.
“Ordinary bandhs, blockades, shutdowns as part of some protests, unaccompanied by incitement to violence would not come under the ambit of the expression ‘threatening the economic security of India’ under section 15(1) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” the court order read.
“Protests in a democracy are sometimes seen to take the form of blockades also, even causing inconvenience to citizens. However, it is doubtful whether such blockades for temporary periods, if unaccompanied by any incitement to violence, would constitute a terrorist act within the meaning of section 15 of UA(P) Act,” it added.
Gogoi, who was arrested in December 2019 and was admitted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) last year for various ailments, walked out of the hospital hours after the court order. He had been discharged in the other case filed against him by NIA last week.
The present case against Gogoi and three others, Dhajya Konwar, Manas Konwar and Bitu Sonowal, was registered in December 2019 in Chandmari police station in Guwahati and was later transferred to the NIA. Apart from Gogoi, all three other accused were on bail.
{{/usCountry}}The present case against Gogoi and three others, Dhajya Konwar, Manas Konwar and Bitu Sonowal, was registered in December 2019 in Chandmari police station in Guwahati and was later transferred to the NIA. Apart from Gogoi, all three other accused were on bail.
{{/usCountry}}The NIA had filed two cases against Gogoi under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The cases pertained to criminal conspiracy, sedition, promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc., assertions against national integrity, support to terrorist organizations, etc.
It was alleged that Gogoi merged his organization, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a farmers’ rights body, secretly with the Revolutionary Communist Centre, which in turn was later merged with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
It was also alleged that Gogoi, and the other accused, conspired to incite hatred and disaffection towards the government established by law, using the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as a pretext and also promote enmity between different groups of people. The case was at the framing of charges stage.
“On the basis of materials before this court and in view of the narration and discussion in preceding paragraphs and findings thereon, all the four accused persons are hereby discharged,” the court order stated.
“There are no prima facie materials to frame charges against the accused person. There is no case of framing charge and all the four accused persons are liable to be discharged,” it added.
The court observed that the conduct and approach of the NIA and the prosecution in the presented case was “discouraging” to say the least.
“Considering the nature of UA(P) Act, while enforcing this law on the ground, the law enforcing agencies have to take care to see that the enforcement remains within the strict parameters of the law and doesn’t get stretched beyond permissible limits imposed by the statute itself,” the order said.
The court observed if precaution is not taken by the enforcement agencies, people who are not guilty of terrorism or might be guilty of other penal offences might get unnecessarily roped within the ambit of the stringent anti-terrorism law.
“It was unimaginable that the court would deliver such a free and fair verdict under such pressure from the government. It shows that the judiciary is still independent and the public can have faith in it,” Gogoi said after his release.
Last week, the NIA court had granted two days’ permission to Gogoi to meet his son, who was suffering from Covid19, and his 84-year-old ailing mother.