High Court acquits 2 for sending youths for terror training

The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court recently allowed criminal appeals by two men who were sentenced by a Jalgaon court to 10 years of imprisonment under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code in 2017 for their involvement in sending some suspects for terror training to Kashmir.

While quashing and setting aside the Jalgaon court’s order, Justice R G Awachat observed: “On close scrutiny of the evidence in the case, it is found to be a case of no evidence against the appellants herein.”

The two from Jalgaon were members of the banned SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India). The trail court had acquitted the two appellants of 10 other charges, including waging war against the nation.

It had, however, convicted them under Section 120-B of IPC for absconding till their arrest in 2006. Parvej Khan Riyazodding Khan (40), and Asif Khan alias Junaid Abdulla Basheer Khan (35) had approached the high court separately through lawyers Joydeep Chatterji and Asfiya N Ansari respectively, challenging the trail court verdict.

Justice Awachat observed: “I have carefully scrutinised the evidence of all the witnesses relied upon by the prosecution to bring home the charge against the appellants. I have also gone through the impugned judgment to find that the trial court reproduced the evidence of all the witnesses relied upon by the prosecution and without assigning any reason, convicted the appellants.”

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