Shivani Pandey-
The National Investigation Agency had earlier submitted to the Gauhati High Court challenging the July 1 order of the NIA Special Court to release MLA Akhil Gogoi of all the charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act.
Accepting the appeal, the Bench of Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Justice Soumitra Saikia directed that notice be issued to Akhil Gogoi, among others, in 3 weeks and has also called for the record from the Special Judge’s Court, NIA, Assam, Guwahati.
It is alleged that Akhil Gogoi had conspired to incite hatred and disaffection towards the Government established by law, using the Citizenship Amendment Act as an instrument and also encouraged enmity among different groups of people.
The Special NIA Court had declined to frame charges under Sections 120B, 124A, 153A, and 153B of the IPC and Sections 18 & 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by holding that no prima-facie case has been made out for framing of charges.
The Court also observed, “Protests in a democracy are sometimes seen to take the form of blockades also, even causing inconvenience to ci to citizens. However, it is doubtful whether such blockades for temporary periods, if unaccompanied by any incitement to violence, would constitute a terrorist act within the meaning of Section 15 of the UA (P) Act. That in my mind, is beyond the intention of the legislature. There can be other laws to address that.”
The Court observed that in light of the facts and materials stated it cannot be said that there are no sufficient materials prima-facie for framing charges against Sri Akhil Gogoi u/s 16 of the UA (P) Act, 1967.
Also Read: Special Court of NIA Discharges Akhil Gogoi in a Second Case relating to Anti-CAA Violence