KOZHIKODE: Thwaha Fasal, one among the two students who were arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the Pantheerankavu Maoist case, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
The apex court also dismissed the appeal filed against the high court order granting bail to Allan Shuhaib, the other accused in the case, and confirmed the order granting bail.
The court ordered that Fasal shall be produced before the special court for considering NIA cases in Kochi within one week from Thursday to enable him to complete the bail formalities by furnishing fresh bonds. The court also ruled that all the conditions imposed by the special court which initially granted the bail are to be restored.
The order stated that taking the materials forming part of the chargesheet as it is, the accusation against both the accused of the commission of offences punishable under Sections 38 and 39 does not appear to be prima facie true. The court order stated that the observations and findings recorded in this judgment are only for the limited purposes of considering the applications for bail made by the accused and the special court shall not be influenced by the said observations and findings while applying its mind to the question of framing charge as the considerations for framing charge are different.
Meanwhile, the family of Fasal welcomed the court order and expressed happiness over the development.
Fasal’s mother Jameela said that she believes that justice has prevailed through the Supreme Court order and that she was finally relieved.
“It has been almost two years since the case began. His studies were severely affected. We have been sending him study materials like question papers. But he had told us that there were not enough facilities for studies. We had full confidence in the Supreme Court and now we are relieved,” said Jameela.
Fasal’s brother Ijas said that it was a major issue that his studies got interrupted.
“No matter how much you try to study from jail there would be hindrances. He was doing a MA rural development course offered by Ignou and we used to facilitate it. But of course it had its limitations… ” said Ijas.
The case relates to the arrest of Fasal and Shuhaib by Pantheerankavu police on November 1, 2019, alleging that they had a secret meeting as part of CPI Maoist.
