Allahabad High Court Denies Bail To Alleged SFJ Members Accused Of Doing Recce Around Ayodhya Ram Mandir

The Allahabad High Court has denied bail to two men alleged to be members of 'Sikh For Justice' and accused of conducting recce at sensitive places at Ayodhya, particularly the Ram Temple.

The Court was considering an Appeal against order denying bail to the Appellants in case registered under Sections 121A, 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B of the IPC.

The Division Bench of Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Shree Prakash Singh observed, "The trial court has considered the forged Registration Certificate of Scorpio Car and also the Aadhar Cards as well as the map, that was recovered from the Scorpio Car and has prima facie come to the conclusion that till the date of decision of the bail application(s) sufficient material had been collected by the A.T.S. and it could not be said that the appellants were falsely implicated. The investigation was going on and the evidence was to be evaluated at the time to trial.....From the order dated 19.02.2024, this Court has found a reasonable application of mind by the learned Judge to all the facts that were placed before him. It cannot be said that the conclusion that he has arrived at could not have been arrived at by reasonable prudent man having sufficient knowledge of law."

The Appellant was represented by Advocate Atul Verma while the Respondent was represented by Additional Government Advocate Shiv Nath Tilhari.

Counsel for the Appellants submitted that the Appellants have been falsely implicated in the said case and that no incident took place, as mentioned in the F.I.R. It was submitted that the Appellants as well as co-accused persons are all residents of Rajasthan and being great devotees of Lord Ram had planned to attend the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram at Ayodhya. They stayed at Dharamshala for this but before they could reach the proper accommodation, they were apprehended and detained by the Police. It was averred that nothing incriminating had been shown to be recovered from the Appellant. The mobile phones, which have been recovered, cannot by themselves be said to be incriminating and the vehicle which was being used by the Appellants and co-accused was not stolen property and the owner didn't make any complaint. Submitting that the Appellants was implicated only on the basis of alleged confessional statement made by the co-accused which remained unsubstantiated, it was contended that the confessional statement of the co-accused is of no consequence, as it cannot be used as evidence to prove guilt.

It was also submitted that no person who was an alleged Khalistani terrorist working for an unlawful organization by the name of "Skikh for Justice" has been made an accused along with the Appellants.

On the other hand, the Additional Government Advocate submitted that one convict ontacted Sukhwinder Singh @ Sukkha, well known Khalistani terrorist, who was murdered in September, 2023 many times through WhatsApp. During this very time, the co-accused also came into contact with Guru Patwant Singh Pannu, who runs an organization by the name of "Sikhs for Justice" and at his behest along with his two friends ie. appellants. They then procured a White Scorpio Car from Rajasthan and forged its Registration Certificate to show the car to be registered in the name of the said convict and reached Ayodhya to conduct recce of Shri Ram Janm Bhoomi and area surrounding it, in order to facilitate a show of protest flags in favour of Khalisthan when the Hon’ble Prime Minister and other high dignitaries would be attending the ceremony. It was further submitted that the call records show that co-accused was in contact of the convict and they had talked at least 273 times. It was argued on the basis of the contents of the counter affidavit that co-accused were closely connected to each other and were constantly talking to each other on the phone.

It was submitted that soon after the arrest of the Appellants, a message was posted on the Twitter account of Guru Patwant Singh Pannu, wherein a threat was extended to the Chief Minister of the State, holding him accountable for arresting two pro-khalishani youth from Ayodhya and the Ram Mandir Ceremony to be held on January 22, 2024.

It was pointed out that since the vehicle in which the Appellants were travelling was being used to conduct recce of sensitive places at Ayodhya and a map was also found under the seat of the Scorpio Car being used by them, if the Appellants were not involved in any conspiracy with the convict, they could have certainly informed the Police in time regarding the illegal activities and intention of their co-traveller, rather they willingly went along with him in his plan and it cannot be said that they were innocent co-travellers.

The Court found material in the submission of the Additional Government Advocate and concluded that case doesn't seem to be of false implication.

The Appeal was accordingly dismissed.

Cause Title: Pradeep Kumar vs. State Of U.P SFJ Member

Appearances

Appellant- Advocate Atul Verma, Advocate Akhilendra Pratap Singh, Advocate Arpit Shukla, Advocate Ishan Baghel, Advocate Pranshul Tripathi, Advocate Umang Rai, Advocate Veena Vijayan Rajes

Respondent- Additional Government Advocate Shiv Nath Tilhari.

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