A division bench comprising Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja allowed Parvez’s appeal challenging a trial court order passed on December 17, 2024, denying him bail.

“We have granted bail, subject to various conditions,” the Bench said while pronouncing the verdict.

Parvez was arrested in the case on November 22, 2021 from Srinagar. He was remanded to judicial custody on February 25, 2022, following series of police custody remands.

As on December 19, 2024- filing of the appeal, Parvez had remained in custody for a total period of roughly 3 years and 1 month.

The NIA alleged that a network linked to the banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) recruited Over Ground Workers (OGWs), gathered intelligence on security installations and facilitated terror funding. Parvez was arrested during the investigation, although he was not named in the original FIR.

According to the charge sheet, the allegations against him were that he recruited OGWs for LeT, collected information regarding the movement and structure of the Army, had links with Pakistan-based terrorist organisations, and instigated protests following the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016.

The appeal argued that the prosecution’s case against Parvez was unsupported by evidence and that he is a “factual stranger” to the larger conspiracy alleged by the NIA.

It was Parvez’s case that there was n digital evidence showing his contact with members of any proscribed terrorist organisation and that no call detail records were collected regarding the alleged meeting between him and co-accused Muneer Ahmad Kataria.

It was argued that there was no evidence that Parvez passed sensitive military information to any terrorist operative and that there was no allegation linking him to any alleged terror-funding money trail.

Courtesy: Live Law