The Delhi High Court has dismissed the bail plea by a woman member of the banned Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) who was arrested at the domestic terminal of the IGI Airport with ₹72 lakh in cash.
A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh said there was “no illegality or infirmity in the orders passed [by the special NIA court] from time to time regarding the detention” of Ms. Aemla Jamir.
The high court dismissed Ms. Jamir’s appeal challenging an order passed by a special NIA court on July 03, 2020, rejecting her application seeking release on statutory bail, saying the chargesheet was filed within the limitation period and the appeal was devoid of merits.
As per NIA, Ms. Jamir was travelling by air from Delhi to Dimapur, when she was detained at IGI Domestic Airport, Terminal-I on December 17, 2019, by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for carrying cash of ₹72 lakh as she could not explain the source of cash available with her.
Subsequently, intimation was sent to the Income Tax (IT) department and the investigation was started.
Ms. Jamir, in her statement to the officials, had stated that the cash in question belonged to the NSCN-IM faction. She stated that she received the cash from an associate of Mr. Muivah, general secretary of NSCN-IM at her residence and the same was to be handed over to Mr. Muivah at Dimapur in Nagaland.
This information was passed on to the special cell and an FIR was registered by the Delhi Police for aiding and abetting NSCN-IM, which is a banned organisation. Investigation was further handed over to the NIA.
The NIA has stated that Ms. Jamir’s husband is a relative of Mr. Muivah and he is a steering committee member of the NSCN-IM, who was earlier commander-in-chief of the terrorist organisation. The agency said the money was to be used for carrying out terrorist operations and other terrorist activities in India.
The NIA also stated that Ms. Jamir was the chairperson of the Women’s Society of NSCN-IM and is also a minister of the terrorist organisation.
It further submitted that there is sufficient evidence in the form of incriminating documents, statements of witnesses and digital evidence, which establishes that the accused person had entered into a criminal conspiracy and they have directly raised and collected funds for NSCN-IM through illegal means of extortion and by giving out loans at exorbitant rate of interest.
The NIA claimed that Ms. Jamir as well as her husband were stated to be in touch with unknown foreign activists to garner support for their activities against the Indian state.
