16 Nov 2002

GOVT WANTS IFTIKHAR OUT ON BAIL BUT WON'T SAY SO TO COURT IN WRITING

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Additional District and Sessions Judge S N Gupta on Saturday dismissed the bail appeal of journalist Iftikhar Gilani while directing the Police to establish within 15 days whether the document seized from his computer was secret or not.

Police Prosecutor R P Dhania suggested during the hearing that Gilani can be freed on bail with conditions like impounding of his passport but wriggled out when the judge wanted Police to say so in writing that it has no objection to the bail.

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani was quoted in a media report on Saturday that the government has given its position that there was no reason to oppose his release on bail but the Police chose not to say so in writing pleading that it had no such instructions.

Since Gilani, Delhi Bureau Chief of The Kashmir Times, is charged with violation of the Officials Secret Act for possessing the document, the judge chose not to proceed but to dismiss the appeal "at this stage" giving liberty to file fresh application "first" before the lower trial court after the Police files report about the nature of the document.

The Court has thus reverted back the bail dispute to the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sangita Dhingra Sehgal who had dismissed the original bail application on Wednesday. The only difference now is that the new bail application would be considered in the context of the nature of the document as secret or not.

Noting that the Investigating Officer admitted that even after five months of Iftikhar's arrest no competent authority had opined whether the document or secret or not, the Sessions Court order directed him to "collect this information from the competent authority as early as possible within 15 days."

Defence counsel V K Ohri quickly moved the fresh bail application and got it fixed for hearing by Ms Sehgal on Monday. The application stresses that Iftikhar was arrested on June 9 from his Delhi flat as part of the government's move to detain several persons opposed to elections in Jammu and Kashmir despite the fact that he had no political leanings.

While most of those detained in Kashmir around the same time have been set free since after the elections while the government is dragging feet in releasing Iftikhar, the application pointed out.

Iftikhar is in Tihar Jails on judicial remand till June 25 when the CMM is to hear arguments on framing of the charges. END