After 14 months in jail, Kashmiri photojournalist gets bail in UAPA case

A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to a Kashmiri photojournalist who had spent over a year in jail after being charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 

Mohammad Manan Dar walked out of jail yesterday after a court said the “accusation against the accused does not appear to be cogent and true”, Indian Express reported.

His family told the Wire that he had been released at around 9 pm. “He is in high spirits and looks forward to continuing his work as a journalist,” a family member said.

Dar had been arrested by the National Investigation Agency on October 21, 2021 on charges of “conspiring” with terror organisations. 

The NIA had opposed his bail plea in October 2022, saying Dar was acting as “hybrid cadre” of these groups. According to LiveLaw, the NIA said Dar was “very much involved in persuading youths of the region to get radicalised” and had “knowingly entered into a conspiracy with terrorist commanders”.

But the court of Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik said on January 2 that “mere assumptions or incomplete evidence to establish such facts may not be sufficient”.

In April 2020, another Kashmiri photojournalist, Masrat Zahra, had been booked under the UAPA because, as the case against her said, she “frequently uploaded anti-national posts with criminal intention”. Read this report in Newslaundry for more.