Mumbai: A special NIA court has rejected the bail plea of 33-year-old Byculla accountant and terror accused Tabish Siddiqui, who claimed to be of unsound mind due to schizophrenia. The judge stated that the extensive and high-tech nature of the alleged activities demonstrated that Siddiqui was “determined and firm” and that no “person of sound mind would dare to call” him a person of unsound mind. “At least when he indulged in all the acts which certainly posed a great threat to the unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty of the country, he was determined and firm,” special judge Chakor S Baviskar said.The NIA found that Siddiqui allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS, communicated with foreign handlers, and created propaganda to recruit young people for “armed jihad”. He is also accused of creating a “do it yourself” kit for making improvised explosive devices and declaring Padgha to be independent from India. Siddiqui was arrested in July 2023 for allegedly being an operative of the banned terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).Referring to the allegations submitted against him by special public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves, the judge further noted, “At this moment itself, I do not have any hesitation to mention that there is more than sufficient material on record to connect accused Tabish prima facie to the alleged offences, which would also do away with his plea of insanity. Then, if the accused is taking the plea of unsoundness of mind when the acts of offences are committed, it is axiomatic that he is admitting commission of the acts of the offences!” the judge remarked.The judge also said that considering the overall nature of allegations and, more particularly, the huge available incriminating material against the accused, if released on bail, in all probability, he will indulge in the same illegal activities. Opposing his plea, Gonsalves submitted that during his NIA custody, medical officers consistently found Siddiqui to be “medically fit” with “no psychotic symptoms”, describing him as “behaviourally stable and working actively”.Siddiqui submitted that he was a patient of schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and has been under treatment since 2020. His lawyer submitted that he is incapable of knowing the nature of the acts that have been committed by him. Reacting to his plea, the judge said, “NIA alleges involvement of accused Tabish in the offences long back since the year 2016, that is, much prior to the so-called psychological disorder of the accused even started. Since then, till immediately before his arrest, Tabish was constantly using all social media, electronic gadgets, technical equipment and was involved in ideology debates and discourses,” the judge said.
