15 November 2002
IFTIKHAR'S BAIL APPEAL
LISTED FOR HEARING ON SATURDAY
From Our Delhi Bureau
NEW
DELHI: The appeal of The Kashmir Times' Delhi Bureau Chief Iftikhar
Gilani held under the Official Secrets Act since over five months is
listed for hearing on Saturday before District and Sessions Judge S N
Gupta.
He has gone in appeal against rejection of his bail
plea on Wednesday by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sangita Dhingra
Sehgal, citing "the larger interest of public and State and all
surrounding circumstances." He is on judicial remand until
November 25.
His counsel V K Ohri appeared before judge Gupta
and pleaded for an early hearing as the lower court had already taken
too long (over five months) in simply rejecting the bail application
and he need not undergo further detention for an alleged offence
which is purely a matter of technical interpretation of possession of
information regarding the military deployment obtained from public
domain.
It has been pointed out in the appeal that the CMM
failed to note tht all witnesses in the case are either police or
income tax officials who cannot be influenced by the accused and
moreover conditions could hae been slapped on him to ensure his
presence during the trial. He is well settled in Delhi and honourably
employed and as such he is not likely to run away from facing the
trial.
Police appeared relenting just two days before the CMM
passed orders rejecting the bail by filing additional arguments and
admitting that the document seized from Iftikhar's computer on June 9
resulting in registration of an offence under the Official Secrets
Act was nothing but part of a published document from a research
institute of Pakistan.
The CMM, however, held in her Wednesday
order that it is an offence under the OS Act even if the information
is published and not secret since its disclosure is likely to affect
the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the country
and useful to the enemy. END