Calcutta HC grants bail to man accused of being member of banned outfit JMB

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted bail to a man who was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police in 2016 for allegedly being a member of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Stating that the petitioner Abdul Kalim alias Azad is in custody for more than eight years, his lawyer prayed for bail claiming that there is no possibility of the trial concluding in near future.

Lawyer for the state submitted that the petitioner was convicted in the 2014 Khagragarh blast case, which was investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.

Two persons died in a blast in a house at Khagragarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal on October 2, 2014. Links of banned JMB were found by the investigators in connection with the blast.

The petitioner's lawyer submitted that the period of sentence awarded in the previous conviction has come to an end and he is entitled to concurrent running of the sentence with the said period in the event he is convicted in the present case.

A division bench presided by Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that the allegation was serious in nature and relates to Azad's membership of a banned organisation.

The court said that no overt act has, however, been attributed to the petitioner and his complicity to the offences is primarily based on uncorroborated statement of a co-accused.

The bench, also comprising Justice Gaurang Kanth, said that the petitioner has already served out sentence in another case and is entitled to seek concurrent running of the two terms of imprisonment even if he is convicted in the present case.

Observing that there is no possibility of conclusion of the trial in the near future, the bench granted bail to Azad.

The court directed the accused to pay two sureties of Rs 10,000 each and ordered him to stay within the jurisdiction of Kolkata and South 24 Parganas districts.

He was also directed to report to the officer in-charge of the state STF once a week.