Three Acquitted as Panjab Police Failed to Prove High-Profile UAPA Case

On 4 Jun 2017, with the arrest of Gurdial Singh, Jagroop Singh, and Satwinder Singh, the Panjab Police claimed to have busted a terror module with links to the ISI-backed banned outfit International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). In 2019, during the Kartarpur Corridor talks, this case made it to the 23-page dossier on alleged terror activity from Pakistan against India. The accused were allegedly linked to Pakistan-based Lakhbir Singh Rode and Harmeet Singh alias Happy, both now supposedly dead. The trio was charged under Sections 15, 16, 17 & 18 of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). On 26 Feb, a court in Panjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district acquitted them. Since two weapons, a .32-bore pistol and .38-bore revolver, were also seized from them, Gurdial Singh and Jagroop Singh have been convicted under Section 25 of the Arms Act. On the UAPA charges, the court order reads, ‘Not even an iota of evidence had come on record that the accused ever raised any funds from a foreign country for committing any terrorist activity in India. No transaction was received from abroad in their bank accounts. The magazines Gurmukh Parkash and Vangar seized from them were not prohibited by the Government of India. Their visit to Pakistan Gurdwaras was not illegal and not a crime. There is no evidence that they conspired to wage war against India or states of India.’ In 2020, Indian Ministry of Home Affairs data showed that from 2016-18, over 3,000 UAPA cases were registered but only 821 charges were filed within a stipulated period of 180 days.