Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Parihar of Jammu and Kashmir court has held that words that cause disaffection towards another community or political party cannot be termed “unlawful activity” under Section 2(o) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), reported Bar & Bench.

The court was hearing a bail plea filed by National Conference Leader Hilal Akbar Lone who has been accused of indulging in “anti-social, anti-government activities” by delivery of unlawful speech against government institutions.

According to an order uploaded by Bar & Bench, the State had argued that Hilal Lone’s speech was anti-establishment, highly provocative and instigated the general public against the integrity and security of the State.  

The ASJ said, “There is no allegation that he (Hilal) called for cessation of a territory of the State from the Union of India or that his words were intending to cause disaffection towards the country. At the most he had a certain diversion of opinion against policies of the present establishment which being part of politics, he is entitled to frame. That cannot be termed as amounting to causing disaffection against the country at large.”

The court accepted that the petitioner Hilal’s speech in the video could at the most, attract the offence of promoting enmity between various classes or questioning policies of the Government but it cannot be branded as an unlawful activity under UAPA.   

According to a report in The Wire, the Court observed that the allegation against the petitioner was not that he was exhorting people to overthrow the government by using force and violence. Bar & Bench quoted the ASJ as saying, “What is alleged therein is regarding the policies of the government of the day which according to the petitioner is branding Muslims as terrorists, whereas its own people are terrorising others and preventing them from discharging their religious beliefs.”

Thereafter, the court noted that he is not linked to any banned organisations and ordered for his release from jail. Hilal Akbar Lone was reportedly directed to furnish surety bonds worth Rs. 2 lakhs with one surety in the like amount and on the condition that he shall remain present for trial and not harass or intimidate prosecution witnesses.

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The post Speech against political party, not unlawful activity under UAPA: J&K Court appeared first on SabrangIndia.

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of having a “completely different standard when it comes to hate speech from its own leaders.” He said, “They can call for hands to be cut off, people to be murdered & it’s fine. Hilal Lone makes a speech & anti-terror laws are used to book him.”

Abdullah was reacting to the arrest of his colleague Hilal Lone who was booked arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly delivering a hateful speech last year. According to news reports in The Tribune, Lone is accused of delivering the alleged ‘hate speech’ at a rally during last year’s District Development Council elections in Bandipora. Lone, the son of National Conference’s member of Parliament Mohammad Akbar Lone, was arrested on Monday from the MLA Hostel, where he was being held captive since December 2020, the report stated adding that, he was booked under various sections of the UAPA in an FIR registered at a police station in Hajin in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. It was on December 25, 2020, that Lone was detained in Bandipora’s Sumbal area and then shifted to the MLA Hostel here.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference also issued an official statement and to “denounce” the alleged “locking-up of Party President, Member of Parliament from Srinagar Dr Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Mr. Omar Abdullah at their residence terming the measures arbitrary and gross intrusion of fundamental rights.”  

The partly stated, “Confining party leaders to their homes exposes the iron fist approach towards Jammu and Kashmir. The measure is the gross violation of human rights and is highly condemnable. Previously also at various instances, the leaders were debarred from moving out from their residences exclusive of any reason. The undue measure marks a new low in the curtailment of fundamental rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir. The measure reveals abnormal is the new normal in this part of the world”. The statement went on to say, “Such harsh and unwarranted measures would further alienate the people and delay restoration of normalcy in Kashmir, which has been reeling under fear psychosis and a sense of insecurity since August, 2019.”

Meanwhile, a delegation of international envoys is visiting Jammu and Kashmir today, February 17, reported India Today. The two-day visit is “to assess the development work and the security situation in the union territory,” stated the news report.

The delegation includes envoys from France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Bangladesh, Malawi, Ghana  stated the news report, adding that they are expected to interact with some newly-elected DDC and BDC representatives, and perhaps also meet members of civil society, and have an interaction with select media persons. They will also “meet Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Justice of J&K and senior officials from administration, who will apprise the delegation of development-related work.”

However, the report added that the international delegation “will not meet former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, who recently alleged that “they were barred from moving out”, and nor will they “visit the ‘camps’ for displaced pandits in Jammu.”

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