Supreme Court Grants Bail to Two Men Jailed 12 Years Under UAPA, Flags Slow Trial
The Supreme Court has granted bail to two men charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), noting that they have been in jail for nearly 12 years and there is no prospect of an early conclusion of the trial.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, in its July 27 order, highlighted that the life sentence imposed on Saquib Ansari and Waqar Azhar in another UAPA case in Jaipur had been suspended by the Rajasthan High Court, and they were also granted bail in a third case in Jodhpur.
The court checked the trial status on the e-Courts portal and found that out of 197 prosecution witnesses, only 68 had been examined, and from January 2025 till July 2026, only two witnesses were examined, one partly. The court described the progress as extremely slow and said there was no prospect of the trial concluding in the near future.
The court held that the continued incarceration of the petitioners was grossly violative of the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. It clarified that it had not commented on the merits of the case and directed the accused to cooperate with the trial, warning that if they delay or misuse bail, the prosecution can seek appropriate orders.
The case stems from the arrest of Pakistani national Mohd Qateel Siddiqui in November 2011, who allegedly disclosed a Rajasthan module of the Indian Mujahideen. Searches in March 2014 led to recovery of gunpowder, ammonium nitrate, detonators, and other items used for explosives from Ansari's premises in Jodhpur.
