SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed the bail appeal of Arshad Ahmed Allaie, a 38-year-old resident of Shopian, accused of cross-border drug trafficking and financing terror activities in the Union Territory. A division bench comprising Justice Shahzad Azeem and Justice Sindhu Sharma upheld the trial court’s order, citing stringent provisions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA(P) Act) and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Allaie, currently lodged in Central Jail Kot Bhalwal, Jammu, was arrested in May 2019 after a police naka at Vivekananda Chowk intercepted a white Creta car without number plates. Police recovered 260 grams of heroin and cash amounting to 12 lakh from a pink polythene bag in the vehicle. The accused, along with his associate Fayaz Ahmed Dar of Anantnag, was booked under multiple sections of the NDPS Act and the UA(P) Act.
Investigations revealed a wider nexus involving cross-border smugglers based in Pakistan. Statements recorded during interrogation linked Allaie to notorious handlers operating from Rawalpindi, including Naseer Ahmed and Aijaz Ahmed alias Ranga, both identified as trained militants. The probe suggested that Allaie had received 15 packets of heroin through Mohd Altaf alias Hafiz and distributed them to local conduits such as Laddi Ram. The proceeds, running into crores, were allegedly channelled to Hizbul Mujahideen militants through hawala networks.
The prosecution highlighted that bank records and call detail records corroborated these links, and seven accounts with a total of 24 lakh rupees were frozen. The final charge sheet, filed in February 2020, accused Allaie of organised narco-terror financing.
During the hearing, Allaie’s counsel argued that he was falsely implicated and that key prosecution witnesses had failed to connect him directly with the crime. He also cited prolonged incarceration and delay in trial, claiming it could take decades to conclude. However, the prosecution opposed bail, stressing that the case involved both terrorist financing and commercial quantity of narcotics, thereby attracting the twin stringent conditions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act and Section 43-D(5) of the UA(P) Act.
The High Court agreed with the prosecution, noting that prima facie evidence showed Allaie’s involvement in drug trafficking to fund terrorism. The bench emphasised that offences under the UA(P) Act reverse the conventional bail principle of “bail is the rule, jail is the exception”, making jail the norm in terror-related cases.
On the issue of delayed trial, the judges referred to recent Supreme Court rulings, including Gurwinder Singh v. State of Punjab and Union of India v. Barakathullah, clarifying that mere delay cannot override the statutory bar on bail in cases involving grave threats to national security.
The court also expressed concern over the trial court’s earlier decision granting bail to Allaie’s co-accused, Fayaz Ahmed, without properly applying Section 37 of the NDPS Act, and directed the Registrar General and Director General of Police to take remedial steps.
With this order, Allaie remains in custody as the trial continues, with only 15 out of 64 prosecution witnesses examined so far. The judgment underscores the judiciary’s strict stance on narco-terror cases, where drug money fuels militant networks across the region.
