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