A Delhi court on Thursday allowed US national Matthew Aaron Vandyke and six Ukrainian nationals to travel back to their home countries, two weeks after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) charged them only for immigration offences, leaving out the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, under which they were investigated, people familiar with the matter said.
The order was passed by Special Judge Prashant Sharma of Rouse Avenue Courts, allowing applications moved by VanDyke and others, through advocates Rohit Dandriyal and Rohit Gour, seeking release of their passports and permission to travel to USA and Ukraine. However, they were allowed to visit their home countries for 30 days after which they must return to India.
Also Read I American citizen VanDyke seeks discharge after paying penalty for illegal entry
Court describes NIA chargesheet as ‘piecemeal’
The development comes after a Delhi court on Wednesday granted default bail to the six Ukrainian nationals and last week to Matthew Aaron VanDyke, holding that the NIA’s charge sheet against them was “piecemeal” and left the right of the accused individuals to a relief intact.
People aware of the development said that Special Judge Sharma, while allowing their travel applications, granted them a 24-hour duration to inform the NIA about their place of stay abroad and details of a close contact, in case the agency requires the same for investigation purposes.
{{/usCountry}}People aware of the development said that Special Judge Sharma, while allowing their travel applications, granted them a 24-hour duration to inform the NIA about their place of stay abroad and details of a close contact, in case the agency requires the same for investigation purposes.
{{/usCountry}}Special judge Prashant Sharma on Wednesday had discharged the six Ukrainians after the accused paid ₹5.5 lakh as penalty for the immigration offences. NIA filed their charge sheet against the seven persons on September 8, charging them only under sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which cover illegal entry and violations of visa conditions, and leaving out the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), under which they were arrested and investigated.
“The charge sheet filed by the NIA is piecemeal as it pertains to section 21 and 23 of Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, only. In the wake of further investigation being carried out by the NIA with respect of offences under UAPA, at this stage it cannot be concluded that accused is not entitled to default bail,” the court had said in its order, while granting default bail to VanDyke last week.
VanDyke was arrested at Kolkata airport on March 13 under section 18 of UAPA, which punishes conspiracy, advocacy, abetment or incitement to commit a terrorist act. The six Ukrainians, Hurba Petro, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk and Viktor Kaminskyi, were arrested at Delhi and Lucknow airports the same day. All seven have been in judicial custody at Tihar jail.