Mumbai: Fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar has been declared as a terrorist in ‘individual capacity’, and therefore, any association with him on the pretext that a person belongs to D-gang / Dawood gang will not attract the provisions of Section 20, which prescribes punishment for being the member of a terrorist gang or organisation, the Bombay High Court has said.
About The Observation Made By The Bombay HC
The high court made the observation while granting bail to two persons — Parvez Vaid and Faiz Bhiwandiwala — who were arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in August 2022 for allegedly being a member of the D-Gang and were booked under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA] and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act [NDPS].
On a tip-off, the ATS had arrested the duo and booked them under sections 17, and 18 – providing funds to a terrorist organisation, conspiring or attempting to commit a terrorist act, respectively – and section 20 of the UAPA. While nothing was seized from Vaid, the ATS had seized 600 grams of ganja from Bhiwandiwala. Police claimed that Vaid, through an associate, transferred Rs 25,000 to an alleged member of the Dawood gang. Bhiwandiwala was in the habit of ordering ‘ganja’ from abroad. It is alleged that they used the darknet to place orders through an app, ‘Wicker Me’, and payment was by ‘blockchain’ in bitcoin.
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Advocates Mihir Desai and Rishi Bhuta, appearing for Vaid and Bhiwandiwala respectively, submitted that the chargesheet did not contain an iota of material to establish the accusations levelled against the two, particularly, under the provisions of draconian UAPA and the NDPS Act. Interestingly, during the course of the hearing, even State Advocate S V Gavand, on the instructions of the competent officer ACP Satish Gadhave (who was present in the court), categorically stated, “There is no material in the chargesheet, establishing the accusations under sections 17 and 18 [of UAPA],” before a bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande, on July 11. The detailed order copy was made available on Friday.
Notification Issued Designating Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar As A Terrorist Under The UAPA
The Central Government issued a notification on September 4, 2019, notifying “Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar as a ‘terrorist’ under the UAPA”. It reasoned that Dawood, with his aliases, was accused of “running an international underworld crime syndicate and being involved in perpetrating acts of terror, promoting religious fundamentalism, terror financing, arms smuggling, circulation of counterfeit currency, money laundering, narcotics, extortion, and benami real estate business in India and abroad and being involved in assassination attempts on prominent personalities to create social disharmony and terrorize the common man”.
Also, he was designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations under the United Nations Security Council Resolution, 1267, and was listed in the Al-Qaida sanctions list dated November 3, 2023. However, “the material relied on by the police to associate Vaid and Bhiwandiwala as a member of a terrorist organisation,” the bench said, “... in our view, prima facie, it would not attract the offence under section 20, as … Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, has been declared as a terrorist in an individual capacity, and therefore, any association with him on the pretext that a person belongs to D-gang / Dawood gang will not attract the provisions of Section 20.”
Further, no contraband was seized from Vaid and the quantity seized from Bhiwandiwala is a small quantity.
“Mere sharing of the pictures of narcotics or prohibited substances definitely do not attract the provisions of the NDPS Act,” it added.
The court hence released the duo on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each.
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