Salam, who is currently under arrest in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), requested permission to travel in custody to his hometown in Kerala for religious and family ceremonies related to his daughter’s passing.
New Delhi: On Friday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed a plea by OMA Salam, a leader of the banned organisation Popular Front of India (PFI), who sought a 15-day custody parole to attend certain ceremonies in Kerala following the death of his daughter.
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Salam, who is currently under arrest in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), requested permission to travel in custody to his hometown in Kerala for religious and family ceremonies related to his daughter’s passing.
Salam’s counsel informed the Delhi High Court that his daughter had passed away a year ago, and while the NIA had no objection to him visiting his hometown for a day, a 15-day custody parole was unreasonable.
The NIA’s lawyer argued, “There is no ceremony that goes on for 15 days and sought time from the court to verify the claim. You can’t invent a ceremony.”
Justice Ravinder Dudeja, hearing the case, noted that the NIA should have already verified the details of the claimed ceremony.
The judge remarked, “Ceremony name is given. You should have verified by now. Agency has network in all the places.”
Salam’s lawyer clarified that certain religious rituals, including reciting prayers at his daughter’s grave and performing verses of the holy book, had to be observed as per local customs and beliefs. He explained that these rituals would take place between April 18 and May 2 and requested the court to grant Salam at least six days of custody parole.
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Earlier, Salam had moved the high court after a trial court had granted him only a day and six hours of custody parole, which he felt was insufficient.
Custody parole allows a prisoner to leave the jail under escort by armed police personnel to attend specific events. Salam, who was arrested in a large crackdown on the PFI in 2022, is accused by the NIA of being involved in a criminal conspiracy to raise funds for terror activities. The NIA has also alleged that Salam and other PFI members were part of a network that aimed to train and indoctrinate people for committing acts of terror in various parts of India.
Following the nationwide ban on PFI, which was enforced under the UAPA in September 2022, the NIA carried out extensive raids across the country, detaining or arresting a significant number of PFI activists. These operations took place in 11 states and union territories, including Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Delhi, and Rajasthan.
The Indian government banned PFI and several of its affiliated wings for five years under the stringent anti-terror law, accusing the group of having links to global terror organizations like ISIS.
In a previous plea, Salam had sought interim bail on the grounds that his wife was in a “depressive state” after their daughter’s death.
However, the high court rejected the plea, noting that Salam was “a person of great influence” and had been managing and administering the PFI for several years. The court further observed that granting him interim bail could pose a “flight risk” and might lead to witnesses being influenced.
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