He wants to seek as juvenile by the Juvenile Justice Board .The Delhi High Court has asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond the petition of Hyderabad youth, arrested for his alleged links to the terror outfit ISIS, look for the case to be transferred to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) as he was a minor when he joined the terrorist organisation.
A Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambani gave the direction last week while hearing the petition filed by Abdul Qadeer which challenge January 29, 2021, decision of a Special NIA Court that rejects his plea and transfer his case to the JJB.
Advocate Md. Mobin Akhtar, representing Qadeer, said that his client date of birth is November 25, 1999. He argued that when the charges framed, the conspiracy started on May 16, 2017, on that date Qadeer was a juvenile, his client is bound to be sent to the JJB proceedings.
Before the Special NIA Court, the agency had submitted that Qadeer came into contact with another accused Abdullah Basith after watching Basith in a sting operation relayed on a news channel on May 16, 2017. After meeting Basith two-three times, Qadeer expressed his intention for doing ‘Hijrat’ and later got involved in the conspiracy to further the activities of ISIS in India, it said.
Qadeer was arrested on August 12, 2018.The NIA has not disputed the date of birth of Qadeer but said that its case is based on a big criminal conspiracy started by accused Basith, his associates and handlers based abroad which strengthen the activities of ISIS in India.