An NIA court in Srinagar granted bail to journalist Aasif Sultan in the Srinagar Central Jail riot case, raising fresh prospects of his freedom after his last bail offered him only a brief respite.

Sultan was arrested in March this year after returning home following five years of detention in a case related to the agitation by inmates inside the Srinagar Central Jail in 2019. The additional sessions judge said further detention of the accused would not serve any purpose.

“There can be no dispute at all that so far as the investigation into allegations of
commission of offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, is concerned, that there is compelling state interest in tackling such serious crimes. However, the mere use of this statutory provision would not ipso-facto warrant rejection of applications of bail ignoring the other binding requirements,” the court said.

The order, passed on May 10, was made public on Wednesday.