New Delhi, Sep 29: Following the Supreme Court’s decision to quash the preventive detention of Mulla Afroz under the National Security Act (NSA) in connection with the November 2024 Sambhal violence, Congress MP Imran Masood and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) president Chandrashekhar Azad on Tuesday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government.

The Supreme Court held that the power of preventive detention had been illegally exercised and imposed costs of Rs 10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government. The court also set aside the Allahabad High Court order that had upheld the detention.

Speaking to media, Masood said, “It has not only been quashed. Please read the complete news. Along with quashing the NSA, a fine of Rs 10 lakh has also been imposed on the state government.”

“Officials should understand that the agenda they are pursuing with their eyes closed will eventually lead to files reaching the Supreme Court and could send them behind bars. The Saharanpur mosque case will also come up in the same manner,” he said.

Masood further said, “There are documents that are speaking for themselves. You cannot hide those documents. Demolishing mosques and persecuting people based on religion goes against the Indian Constitution. The same Constitution that gives you the authority to hold office also guarantees the protection of our rights.”

Aazad Samaj Party president and Nagina MP, Chandrashekhar Azad, said the Rs 10 lakh cost imposed by the Supreme Court was inadequate.

“A Rs 10 lakh fine is too little. The government and police send innocent people to jail on the government’s orders, and when the judiciary imposes a fine on them, it is only Rs 10 lakh. In my view, the fine should have been Rs 10 crore,” he said.

Azad alleged that the NSA was being used to suppress opposition voices and silence cases, adding that he had himself been detained under the law.

“I am sitting before you today after the government detained me under the NSA despite me being innocent. I was kept in jail for 16 months,” he said.

“The government wants to suppress voices of opposition and silence cases through the NSA. The people will not be suppressed either. When the people and the state stand up, they will remove this government from power,” he added.

The Supreme Court’s ruling came on a petition filed by Mulla Afroz, who was arrested in connection with the Sambhal violence.

Ratlam, Sep 29: At least four people were killed and eight others injured in two separate road accidents on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district on Tuesday, police said.

The accidents occurred within a span of about two hours on the eight-lane expressway under the jurisdiction of Jaora Industrial police station, with both cars plunging into a 30-40 feet deep gorge after hitting the central median.

The first accident took place around 4:30 a.m. when a car carrying a family from Punjab, travelling from Ambala in Haryana to Mumbai, hit the median railing.

The vehicle broke through a portion of the railing and fell into the gorge, police said. Narendra Kaur (67) and her daughter-in-law Manpreet Kaur (32), both from Punjab, died in the accident. Three other occupants, including an elderly man and two children, were injured.

“Prima facie, it appears that the driver may have become drowsy while driving at high speed and lost control of the vehicle, causing it to hit the railing,” Jaora Industrial police station in-charge Prakash Gadariya said.

Police reached the spot after receiving information from other motorists and shifted the injured to a hospital in Jaora.

They were later referred to Ratlam Medical College for further treatment. While police personnel were examining the site of the first accident, another car carrying a family from Dahod in Gujarat met with an accident around 6:30 a.m., police said.

The second vehicle, bearing registration number GJ20 CB 4610, reportedly went airborne after hitting the central median and fell into the gorge.

The railing at the spot had been damaged in the first accident. Ravi Hatila (35), who was driving the second car, and Ramesh Makwana (50), both from Dahod, were killed. Four to five other occupants of the vehicle were injured.

“The railing had been damaged in the first accident, and while our personnel were conducting an inspection at the spot, the second car hit the median and fell into the gorge,” Gadariya said.

The Gujarat family was returning to Dahod after travelling to Uttar Pradesh for medical treatment of a family member.

Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding both accidents, including the condition of the road infrastructure and the factors that led to the vehicles losing control.

Mumbai, Sep 29: In the 2021 Antilia bomb-scare case, a Special NIA Court here on Tuesday granted bail to former cop Sachin Vaze but barred him from entering five districts, including Mumbai and Thane, till the recording of statements of key witnesses.

Special Judge Chakor S. Baviskar granted bail to Vaze, who is also a suspect in the Mansukh Hiran murder case, against a personal bond and surety of Rs 1 lakh each and directed him to surrender his passport, a lawyer said.

While offering relief to “former encounter specialist” Vaze, the Special NIA Court noted that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case of terrorism under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against him.

The bail was granted on the condition that the former cop Vaze will not enter the jurisdiction of Brihanmumbai, Navi Mumbai, Raigad, Thane and Palghar districts until the statements of key witnesses are recorded.

The court also directed the former Assistant Police Inspector (API) to provide his location information or the address of his proposed residence outside these five districts within seven days of the order.

The Special Judge said that Vaze will be required to report to his local police station every Sunday between 12 noon and 3 p.m. and share his location on calls/video calls with the NIA or the police.

The court noted that the gelatin sticks found in the car near outside Antilia – the residence of a top industrialist – without detonators did not prima facie constitute a direct terrorist act or a threat to the country’s economic security.

The court noted that no statement has been recorded from any victim or member of the family living in Antilia.

The Special Judge accepted Vaze’s plea seeking bail on the grounds of parity with other accused who had already been granted similar relief.

His lawyers pleaded that co-accused Pradeep Sharma and Sunil Mane had already been granted bail by the Supreme Court and the High Court, and on the grounds of parity, Vaze should also be granted bail.

Vaze had been in custody since March 13, 2021, and given the magnitude of the case (320 witnesses and a charge sheet of over 14,000 pages), the trial was unlikely to be completed soon, said his lawyer.

According to the National Investigation Agency, an explosives-laden SUV carrying a ‘threat letter’ was found parked near the multi-storey Antilia building in south Mumbai on February 25, 2021.

Businessman Mansukh Hiren, who claimed that the SUV had been stolen from his possession, was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5, 2021. Vaze was arrested in the case a few days later.

The Special NIA Court framed charges against Vaze and nine others on August 1, 2026, paving the way for them to face trial under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and murder.

The NIA said that Vaze was involved in parking the SUV with the motive of terrorising wealthy individuals and extorting money.