Over the last 11 years, hundreds of Muslims arrested on charges of terrorism across India have been declared by courts to be innocent of the allegations.
In many cases, judges have openly castigated the police for framing the accused and fabricating evidence against them. In Maharashtra and Gujarat, several policemen face trials for killing innocent Muslim men and falsely claiming that they were terrorists.
VICIOUS CYCLE
Once an accused is arrested on charges of terrorism, he/she is typically booked under laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Section 124(a) of the Indian Penal Code, which makes it an offense to spread disaffection.
Thereafter, nearly every case takes the following route. The accused is --
• Never allowed bail even if the trial doesn't start for years
• Implicated in many other cases, including past and even future cases
• Implicated in cases across various states
• Acquitted of the charges that are never proved
• Continues to be in jail in other cases
• Is finally acquitted in all cases only after many years
Despite the grave miscarriage of justice evident from the above, the criminal jurisprudence process initiates no criminal suit against the guilty policemen even in cases where the judges clearly rule that the police framed the accused.
Moreover, no compensation is ever offered to the accused compounding their utter humiliation on top of the suffering and the misery of years.
BRINGING JUSTICE
It is demanded that the Government of India and Parliament bring the following changes in the criminal jurisprudence pertaining to cases of terrorism in order to ensure that Muslims are not illegally and criminally trapped in false cases on fabricated evidence:
1. Fast-Track Courts be set up to exclusively hear terrorism/sedition cases of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Section 124(a) of the Indian Penal Code
2. Daily hearings must be held in every case
3. Prosecution must file charge-sheets within 60 days against the present 180 days
4. The accused will have automatic bail if the trial is not concluded and judgement delivered within one year from the date of arrest
5. A High Court judge would evaluate intelligence reports on the basis of which arrests are made and/or charge-sheets filed must be presented, before the start of the trial. All such rulings would be classified for a period of ten years.
6. An accused acquitted in one case would have the right to automatic bail in any and every other case of terrorism/sedition
7. Once an accused has earned bail in one case, he/she would be allowed bail in other cases if he/she is able to post sureties as deemed by the court
8. Irrespective of the number of cases against an accused, he/she cannot be denied bail for more than one year
9. If an accused is implicated in more than two cases, an automatic review of the charges would be be brought before a judicial officer of no lower than a District Judge's rank who must rule on their prima facie genuineness within six weeks
10. An acquittal would automatically trigger the process for determining the quantum of compensation that Government of India would pay the former accused
11. An acquittal would automatically trigger the process of inquiry by a judicial officer of a rank no lower than a District Judge leading to prosecution of the police officials who had been instrumental in the arrests and investigations
12. Promotions, awards and rewards for policemen for any work would remain suspended from implementation until inquiry against them is over
13. The telephone call records of the policemen involved in making arrests of terror accused as well as in encounter killings would be made case property
14. Police raids to arrest the terror accused, if based on previously received intelligence inputs, would mandatorily be video recorded
15. All police officers involved in the arrest of the terror accused would have to mandatorily undergo lie detector tests before the trial of the accused begins
Terror cases against Muslims | TwoCircles.net
