In a significant development, a Special TADA Court in Srinagar on Tuesday ordered the release of a man arrested just a day earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the high-profile 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed. The court termed the arrest a procedural error and went a step further by quashing arrest warrants against seven other individuals linked to the decades-old case.
The Court's Stern Order and a Swift Release
Presiding Officer and 3rd Additional Sessions Judge, Madan Lal, directed the release of Shafat Ahmad Shangloo, a resident of Srinagar. The judge explicitly stated that Shangloo's name had been "inadvertently or mistakenly listed" for arrest. The court pointed to a general warrant of arrest issued in August 2019, which clearly named five other alleged absconders but did not include Shangloo.
Judge Madan Lal noted that Shangloo had been released earlier in the case for want of evidence, and therefore, the court had wisely omitted his name from its original September 1991 order. This previous release due to lack of evidence was also a key argument presented by Shangloo's defence lawyers.
Wider Fallout: Warrants Against Seven Others Cancelled
In a broader ruling, the TADA judge also ordered the cancellation of arrest warrants against seven other individuals. These names—Riaz Ahmed, Khurshid Ahmed Dar, Tari Ahmed, Nissar Ahmed Bhat, Manzoor Ahmed, Nanaji, and Abdul Majid Bhat—were mentioned in the CBI's 1990 chargesheet but, as the court observed, were not part of the original 1991 court order for arrest.
The court stated that quashing these warrants was necessary "to avoid unnecessary exercise by the CBI and hardship & stigma of arrest." This move underscores the legal principle of protecting individuals from the repercussions of arrest when the foundational order is flawed or inapplicable.
Recap of the 1989 Abduction Case
The case dates back to December 8, 1989, when Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, was abducted from Srinagar. She was released after five days following a controversial prisoner exchange. The then V.P. Singh government, supported by the BJP, released five terrorists of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) to secure her freedom.
The CBI filed its chargesheet on September 18, 1990, naming over 15 people, including JKLF chief Yasin Malik. The chargesheet separately listed "absconders" and accused who were not sent for trial. In January 2021, charges were framed against ten of the accused, including Yasin Malik. Of these, four individuals, including Malik, have been identified by Rubaiya Sayeed herself.
This recent court order highlights a major procedural lapse in the long-drawn legal process. Sources indicate the CBI's eagerness to track down absconding accused ahead of the trial court beginning to record prosecution evidence led to this embarrassment. The episode raises questions about the handling of historic terror cases and the due process owed to individuals named in them.
