SRINAGAR: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) response to appeals filed by Kashmiri separatist leader Aasiya Andrabi and her two associates challenging their conviction and sentences in a terror conspiracy case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A division bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan condoned the delay in filing the appeals and issued notice to the NIA. The court granted the agency time until September 15 to respond to the convicts’ applications seeking suspension of their sentences and listed the matter for further hearing on October 6.
Andrabi, founder and chief of the banned separatist organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), was convicted along with her associates Nahida Nasreen, the outfit’s general secretary, and Sofi Fehmeeda, its press secretary, by a special NIA court in January this year. The trio was held guilty of offences related to terror conspiracy, membership and support of a banned organisation, besides criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity and conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India.
On March 24, the trial court sentenced Andrabi to life imprisonment, while Nasreen and Fehmeeda were awarded 30 years in jail each. The court also imposed fines on all three convicts. It had observed that the evidence showed they had actively used speeches, public meetings, publications and social media platforms to propagate the secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India and mobilise support for the banned organisation.
The case originated from an FIR registered by the NIA in April 2018 following directions from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. According to the agency, Dukhtaran-e-Millat functioned as a proscribed organisation pursuing the objective of separating Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India. Investigators alleged that Andrabi and her associates circulated inflammatory speeches, videos and online content aimed at promoting secessionist ideology, inciting public unrest and encouraging anti-India activities.
The NIA’s investigation also relied on digital evidence, including social media posts, video recordings, interviews and other material allegedly linking the accused to the banned organisation’s activities. The agency claimed the trio maintained contacts with proscribed terrorist organisations and worked to radicalise people in support of separatist objectives.
Founded by Andrabi in 1987, Dukhtaran-e-Millat emerged as an all-women separatist organisation in Kashmir and was banned under the UAPA. Besides advocating Kashmir’s secession from India, the outfit had also campaigned for the implementation of Islamic law and other hardline social measures in the Valley.
Andrabi has remained in custody since her arrest in 2018 during the NIA’s crackdown on separatist leaders. Before the NIA took over the case, she had been arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in Anantnag over allegations that she was planning protests.
