Only a fraction of the 32,000 persons held now in J&K jails

JAMMU, May 24: None of the nearly 32,000 persons, picked up by security forces and other government agencies for their alleged involvement ...

JAMMU, May 24: None of the nearly 32,000 persons, picked up by security forces and other government agencies for their alleged involvement in militant activities during the last seven years in Jammu and Kashmir, has so far been convicted under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.

Highly placed official sources revealed that instead, majority of these have been released from custody either by the state government or by the courts. At present there are about 1,600 persons lodged in various jails under TADA within and outside the state.

Giving details, a senior official said that of the persons picked up in militancy related activities in the past seven years, 17,000 were released after preliminary inquiries. The state government’s screening committee reviewed the cases of about 18,000 persons and released 4,500 of them during the period. The courts granted bail to nearly 1,700 persons and nearly 3,000 were also released on parole.

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Pointing out that there were 1,300 cases pending disposal before the two designated courts under TADA, sources said that most of the accused in these cases were already released on bail due to the failure of police to present challans against them within the stipulated period of 180 days. However, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief, Yasin Malik, was released on bail by the court on health grounds.

Under the provisions of the TADA, the investigating agency can get remand of the accused upto a maximum of 60 days from a first class magistrate immediately after his arrest. After the expiry of that period, the agency has to produce challan before the TADA court or seek a judicial remand of the accused upto a maximum of 120 days.

Pointing out that the investigating agency can hold a person under TADA upto a maximum of 180 days, sources said that the designated courts have the right to grant bail, if asked for, in case of non-production of challan within that period. However, under special circumstances, the judicial remand of a TADA detenu can be further extended upto a period of one year on the written request of the prosecution, sources said.

After the expiry of the extended judicial remand, the accused has a right to be enlarged on bail if the prosecution fails to present the challan against him even then.

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Sources said that the prosecution has sought extension of judicial remand in only one or two per cent of the TADA cases so far, adding that most of the accused have managed to seek bail on ground of non-filing of the challan within the stipulated period of 180 days.

Significantly, none of the militants held for the killing of important political personalities has been punished so far. Of the 17 militants arrested in connection with the killing of VIPs in the valley, seven have been released on bail. Of the remaining 10, nine are in judicial custody in the state and one in the Tihar jail.

Sources attributed the delay in and disposal of cases to the non-availability of witnesses. In many cases, the witnesses were not prepared to depose before the court due to the fear of gun.