11 Nov 2002
IFTIKHAR GILANI MAY BE OUT ON BAIL
ON WEDNESDAY
From Our Delhi Bureau
NEW
DELHI: The Kashmir Times' Delhi Bureau Chief Iftikhar Gilani is most
likely to be out on bail on Wednesday after languishing in the Tihar
Jails here for over five months as the government is understood to
have realised that he has been wrongly charged under the Official Secrets
Act.
Delhi Metropolitan
Magistrate Sangita Dhingra Sehgal extended his judicial remand to
Wednesday and announced in a close-door haring that she would be also
pronouncing the order on his bail application Wednesday morning at
10.
Gilani was arrested from his house here on June 9 and the
charges under Official Secrets Act were slapped on him on recovery of
a document in his computer regarding the deployment of the Indian
Armed Forces in Jammu and Kashmir. A frivolous charge of obscenity
was subsequently levelled on him for alleged recovery of some
pornographic video cassettes on the day of raid on his house on June
9.
The Govenment is, however, understood to have reviewed the
case following representations from journalists as also the Media
reports on how Iftikhar has been framed up and denied bail all these
months.
So far Police has been opposing grant of bail but the
sources said it has been told by the political leadership not to
block the bail. There was, however, still some resistance from the
Police prosecutor on Monday when the judge decided to better defer
her ruling for Wednesday.
The Government appears to have been
persuaded to re-examine Iftikhar's case since after Noted journalist
Khushwant Singh stressed in his weekly column to give Iftikhar his
freedom, pointing out that "our top priority should be to
dissipate the clouds of mutual suspicion that have created a feeling
of alienation among the Kashmiris."
In a hard-hitting
editorial, The Times of India also on Monday pointed out that
"Gilani's long incarceration has done a lot to spoil the
reputation of India as a country enjoying a truly free Press."
The editorial said: "If the government made a mistake in
arresting him -- as many officials privately now admit -- they should
swallow their pride and do the right thing without further delay."
END