Delhi High Court issues notice to NIA : "Juvenile" ISIS Suspect Seeks Bail

The Delhi High Court on 21^st January, 2022 (Friday) issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a bail application filed by alleged ISIS terrorist Abdul Qadeer, who claimed to be a minor when he joined the terror outfit [Abdul Qadeer (in JC) Vs. National Investigation Agency] .

A Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani directed the agency to file its response by February 2.

Advocate Mohammed Mobin Akhtar, appearing for the applicant, told the Court that his client had been in custody since his arrest in August 2018, and that the trial in the case would take a very long time to complete.

Appearing for the NIA, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Akshai Malik opposed the plea, stating that till now, the trial court has examined nine witnesses and all of them have supported the prosecution's case.

Qadeer had earlier moved the High Court arguing that he was a minor when he allegedly joined ISIS, and should, therefore, be tried as a juvenile.

"I have been charged with conspiracy which is a continuing offence and even though it does not have an end but it does have a beginning. You have to give a date on which offence was committed and according to the date given by the agency I was a minor therefore I am entitled to be tried by a Juvenile Justice Board," Akhtar had argued then.

A resident of Hyderabad, Qadeer was arrested by the NIA in August 2018 after a week-long questioning. He was 19 years old at the time. The agency alleged that Qadeer had been in touch with Adnan Hassan, who was arrested in the 2016 ISIS Abu Dhabi module case for recruiting Indians to carry out activities for the terror outfit. The NIA had argued that Qadeer was tasked with spreading ISIS propaganda.

The bail application will now be considered along with Qadeer's plea to be tried as a juvenile.