SC grants bail to two alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives after 12 years

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has granted bail to two alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives who have been in custody since 2014, holding that their prolonged incarceration without the trial nearing completion was a violation of their fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta granted relief to Mohd Saquib Ansari and Waqar Azhar, who had challenged an April order of the Delhi high court rejecting their bail pleas in a terror case registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell in November 2011.In its July 27 order, the apex court observed that the two accused had spent nearly 12 years in custody with little progress in the trial."...we feel that the continued incarceration of the petitioners in this case is grossly violative of the right to liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the Bench said.The court also…