Supreme Court Grants Bail to Accused in UAPA Case, Cites Doubt on Genuineness of Confessional Statements

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court of India granted bail to two accused individuals in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Apex court highlighted various discrepancies in the prosecution's case, casting doubt on the genuineness of the confessional statements made by the accused. It was held that these statements did not satisfy the conditions under Section 27 of the Evidence Act for admissibility, as there was no discovery of any fact as a result of the information supplied by the accused.

The court also pointed out inconsistencies in the prosecution's account, including the fact that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team was already aware of the location of a medical shop where medicines were allegedly purchased by one of the accused, suggesting that there was no discovery led by the accused's information.

It was further observed that the prosecution's case that one of the accused was found standing at a particular location on a specific date appeared doubtful

The court examined the material relied upon against the accused and was unable to form an opinion that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against them of commission of the offence under the UAPA were prime facie true. Therefore, the embargo on the grant of bail under the proviso to sub-section (5) of Section 43D of the UAPA did not apply in this case.

The court emphasized the length of the accused individuals' custody (over four and a half years) and the delay in trial commencement. The bench noted that some of the accused were absconding, the charge had not been framed, and the prosecution proposed to examine more than 140 witnesses, indicating that the trial was not likely to begin in the near future.

The apex court therefore set aside the previous orders denying bail and directed the accused be released on bail. However, the court left it to the learned Special Judge to impose appropriate conditions.

D.D-17.Apr.2023

Yedala Subba Rao & Anr. VS Union of India