Harbouring Of Terrorists Creates ‘Safe Havens’ For Them; Persons Who Harbour Terrorists Provide Them “Veil Of Secrecy”: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court remarked that harbouring of terrorists creates ‘safe havens’ for them and persons who harbour terrorists provide them a “veil of secrecy”.
The Court remarked thus in a Criminal Appeal filed by an accused, challenging the Order of the Trial Court in a case registered under Sections 18, 20, and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and Section 32 of the Indian Wireless and Telegraphy Act, 1933, by which his Bail Application was dismissed.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Amit Sharma observed, “Harbouring of terrorists may not be seen to be a serious offence, especially when it is claimed that the same is under duress or coercion. However, a deeper analysis would reveal that harbouring is not an innocent act. It is an act or a series of acts which leads to creation of ‘Safe Havens’ for terrorists thereby endangering the safety and security of citizens. Persons who harbour terrorists lend support to such organisations like LeT and provide them a ‘veil of Secrecy’, thereby temporarily integrating them into society, only to let them strike at opportune moments.”
The Bench added that harbouring also leads to disturbing society in general and legitimises such unlawful activity, if left unchecked. It said that providing food and shelter with a safe place to stay to persons associated with terrorist organisations, encourages terrorism over a long period.
Advocate Kartik Venu represented the Appellant/Accused while SPP Shilpa Singh represented the Respondent/National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Brief Facts
The case was related to a conspiracy hatched by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a proscribed terrorist organisation, based in Pakistan, to commit terror attacks in India. As a part of the said conspiracy, the co-accused along with his two associates illegally infiltrated into Indian territory (J&K) by crossing the LoC in 2016. Based on reliable sources, J&K Police and army conducted a joint search operation in a village and arrested the co-accused. Thereafter, an FIR under Section 14 of Foreigners Act and Section 32 of the Wireless Act was filed. The investigation of case was taken over by the NIA. It was alleged that the grid reference noted by the co-accused in his diary was very close to the house of the Appellant-accused in Yahama (J&K).
Based on the investigation and the evidence on record, a supplementary chargesheet was filed before the Trial Court qua the Appellant and other co-accused persons. The co-accused was convicted on a plea of guilt by the Trial Court for the offences under Sections 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Sections 17, 18, 20, and 38 of UAPA and Sections 121-A and 489(C) of IPC, Section 9B of the Explosives ACT, 1884, Section 4 of the Explosives Substances Act, 1908, Section 7 and Section 10 read with Section 25 of the Arms Act, Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, and Section 6(1A) of the Wireless Act. Hence, the accused filed an Appeal under Section 21(4) of the NIA Act, 2008 before the High Court.
Reasoning
The High Court in the above context of the case, noted, “… harbouring of terrorists has been treated as a serious offence under the UAPA under Section 19, which can be punished with minimum three years which can extend to life imprisonment.”
The Court further noted that the accused has been in judicial custody since 2017 and a period of more than seven years has been passed and out of a total of 100 plus witnesses, only 35 have been examined.
“In the considered opinion of this Court, co-accused no.1 was a Pakistani national and infiltrated into India with arms and ammunition to conduct a terrorist act. The present appellant, as per the evidence at this stage, continued to harbour him”, it said.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the Appeal and directed the Trial Court to complete the trial within four months.
Cause Title- Zahoor Ahmad Peer v. National Investigation Agency (Neutral Citation: 2025:DHC:998-DB)
Appearance:
Appellant: Advocates Kartik Venu and R. Jude Rohit.
Respondent: SPP Shilpa Singh and Advocate Priyam Agarwal.
