Delhi High Court orders release of Kashmiri prisoners

Court concludes the conviction of Indian Kashmiri youths could not be sustained.

ISLAMABAD: The Delhi High Court has set aside the conviction of an Indian Kashmiri youth, Muhammed Iqbal Jan, who was awarded life imprisonment in 2009 by the Additional Sessions Judge Delhi in a case.  

A division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice S R Butt and Justice S P Garg set aside the conviction and sentence of Iqbal Jan, a resident of Bandipora.

The Court came to conclusion that the conviction could not be sustained and set aside the same, ordering the immediate release of Jan and Mushtaq Ahmed Kaloo who was also convicted in the same case.

Jan has already spent seven years in Delhi's Tihar Jail. He was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on 27 November 2006 near Kauria Pul at Old Delhi Railway Station. A case was registered against him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Earlier, his case had come up before another Division Bench and was argued by Panthers Party Patron, Bhim Singh. Later, it was referred to a Division Bench headed by Justice S R Butt who had reserved the Judgment on February 28, 2012.

Meanwhile, Bhim Singh has described the judgment as a "candlelight" for all those prisoners who still continue to be denied justice.