Asif Sultan, a journalist from Kashmir who was among the first media figures to be charged under a strict anti-terror law, was freed from prison on Thursday after serving more than five years, according to The Independent.
According to the report, he was freed on Tuesday after more than two months of waiting when the Jammu and Kashmir High Court invalidated his arrest on the grounds of procedural errors.
Sultan has been imprisoned in a jail in the Ambedkar Nagar area of Uttar Pradesh for more than five years. The reason for his prolonged imprisonment following the ruling of the High Court was that “clearance letters” from the Srinagar district magistrate and the home department were still awaited.
Sultan was arrested in September 2018 for violating the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on the grounds that he had provided logistical support to a banned militant group. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted his release on bail on April 5, 2022, four years after he was first arrested. The court cited the investigative agencies’ incapacity to demonstrate his affiliation with any militant group.
But the Srinagar district magistrate issued an order for his imprisonment under the Public Safety Act (PSA) only four days after this ruling.
Sultan’s imprisonment under the PSA was revoked by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on December 11 after it was determined that the required procedural requirements had not been sufficiently followed.
This statute allows for up to two years of detention without charge or trial for national security purposes and up to a year for maintaining public order. While Sultan was being held under the Public Safety Act, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul observed that the authorities appeared to be considering the case against him under the anti-terror law. However, they neglected to furnish him with crucial records, such as the FIR or statements obtained under Section 161 of the criminal procedure.
Sultan was unable to successfully challenge his detention order as a result of this omission.
