CHENNAI: A technical lapse on the part of the police came to the aid of two people who were in detention for nearly two years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), who got bail from the Madras High Court on this ground.
On May 25, 2024, Mohammad Mourice and Kadher Navas Sherif of Chennai were arrested under IPC Sections 34, 120(B), 153A, 153B and UAPA Sections 13, 18, in an NIA case alleging that they held secret meetings in mosques as part of a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.
The special court for bomb blast cases denied them bail on February 19, 2025. When their appeal came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and Sunder Mohan, their counsel argued that the NIA failed to furnish grounds of arrest as mandated under the UAPA, and also noted that the Supreme Court has already granted bail to a co-accused.
The bench cited Supreme Court rulings and stated that “grounds of arrest must be supplied to an accused at the time when he is apprehended or within a reasonable time thereafter.” In this case, the appellants were arrested on May 25, 2024, but grounds of arrest were never supplied, the bench observed. This fundamental lapse vitiated the detention, said the court and granted them bail.