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