Journalist Kazmi gets bail

It was widely believed that Kazmi too has been made an ‘accused’ without any substantial, verifiable evidence

Sadiq Naqvi Delhi

The Supreme Court today granted bail to senior journalist and middle east expert Syed Mohammad Kazmi. The urdu journalist is an accused in the bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat in the national capital in February, 2012. Kazmi was arrested on March 6 by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. Several pleas for bail were rejected by the trial court and the Delhi High Court in the last six month.  

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir pronounced the order on a plea by Kazmi challenging the high court decision which had earlier refused him bail.

There have been several glaring infirmities and contradictions in the case from the very beginning. Several claims by the Delhi Police, particularly pertaining to the transfer of funds to Kazmi from a gulf country was found to be false. Several journalists, eminent citizens and civil society groups under the aegis of the Kazmi Solidarity Committee had consistently found loopholes in the police version and staged many protests and public meetings seeking his release. There were also protests in several parts of the country seeking his release.

Moreover, there was a concerted attempt by the police to influence public opinion. Activists and observers point out that each time the matter was to be heard in the court, there would be a spate of malicious stories that would appear in section of the media. Many of them were attributed to sources in the Delhi police. Also, there were serious questions on the way Delhi Police special cell dealt with the investigations in the case.

Since, it allegedly involved Iranian nationals who are said to have hatched the plan, the police was lax in taking up the investigation. A team of the Delhi police visited Tehran to investigate the alleged links after filing the chargesheet against Kazmi even though it was said that he was acting at the behest of Iranian conspirators. Activists find in this modus operandi a clear case of violation of the process of law and justice. Even the chargesheet is full of glaring loopholes, say activists. (See an insightful analysis in a section of the international media: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/evidence-in-delhi-embassy-bombing-suggests-journalist-was-framed-part-1/

http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/police-case-for-iranian-bomb-plot-based-on-tainted-evidence-part-2/)

A recent report by the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association in Delhimeticulously documented the track record of the Delhi Police Special Cell and how it has framed innocent people in terror cases. It was widely believed that Kazmi too has been made an ‘accused’ without any substantial, verifiable evidence, which was indeed not produced in the court.

Meanwhile, several human and civil rights groups have welcomed the order. Here is the text of a statement issued by Kazmi Solidarity Committee: