The Calcutta High Court has granted bail to a Bangladeshi citizen who was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of having links with the banned terrorist organization Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

A dividing bench Judges Joymalya Bagchi and Gaurang Kanth The bail application moved by Abdul Kalim alias Azad was allowed.

It was stated that the applicant had been detained for more than eight years and that there was no possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future.

The state lawyer stated that the petitioner was convicted in the 2014 Khagragarh blast case, investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sentenced to eight years in prison. There was an alleged connection between JMB and the blast in Khagragarh.

The applicant’s lawyer argued that his eight-year prison sentence had expired and that there was no justification for the state authorities to continue to detain the applicant in the present case.

While the court noted that the allegations that he was affiliated with a banned terrorist organization were serious, it also stated that no clear action was attributed to the applicant and that he was sentenced based on an unverified statement made by another defendant.

It was also noted that since he had already served his eight-year sentence, the two sentences would run concurrently even if he were convicted in the present case.

Accordingly, the court decided to release the applicant on bail.

Case: ABDUL KALIM @ AZAD @ ABDUL KALAM VS WEST BENGAL STATE

Case No: CRM (DB)/3400/2024

Quote: 2024 LiveLaw (Cal) 236