Delhi Court Frames Charges Against Khurram Parvez, Ex-NIA Officer Arvind Negi In J&K Terror Funding Case

A New Delhi court has framed charges against human rights activist Khurram Parvez, former NIA officer Arvind Negi and four others in a 2021 case involving alleged terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. One accused, Muneer Kataria, who later became an approver, has been discharged from the case.

Parvez had been in jail for more than four and a half years and had only recently been released.

What Are The Charges Against Khurram Parvez?

On July 31, Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma framed charges against Parvez under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Parvez has been charged with criminal conspiracy and waging war against the state under the IPC. Under the UAPA, he faces charges relating to conspiracy, membership of and providing support to a terrorist organisation.

He has also been charged under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly bribing a public servant. The provision penalises the person giving a bribe, meaning private individuals can also face charges under it.

Parvez had spent more than four-and-a-half years in jail and was released only last week.

He was the coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), which has worked on documenting alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and advocated for victims of enforced disappearances, illegal detention, torture and alleged extrajudicial executions.

The NIA has accused Parvez of allegedly working with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Material allegedly seized from him included CDs titled “a tribute to Shaheed Afzal”, referring to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, and “Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir”, a parallel cultural and political protest event held in Srinagar in 2013.

While framing charges, the trial court observed that the material, taken at face value, raised “grave suspicion” against Parvez.

What Is The Case Against Former NIA Officer Arvind Negi?

Arvind Negi, a Himachal Pradesh-cadre IPS officer who spent more than 11 years with the NIA, has also been charged in the case.

Negi faces charges under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly passing information that was likely to affect the sovereignty and integrity of the state. The NIA has alleged that he leaked official documents to Muneer Kataria, whom the agency described as an alleged overground worker of the LeT.

He has also been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly accepting bribes.

Negi was arrested on February 18, 2022, and was granted bail on June 2, 2022.

According to the trial court's framing of charges order, Negi allegedly passed an interrogation report concerning Waheed Para, details of an investigation in a 2020 case and a document relating to the JKCCS to Kataria.

Kataria allegedly then passed the documents to an LeT operative based in Pakistan, according to the allegations recorded by the court.

Four More Accused Face Charges

Apart from Parvez and Negi, the court framed charges against four other accused — Arshid Ahmad Tonch, Zafar Abbas alias Zafar Ali, Rambhawan Prasad and Chandan Mahato.

Tonch and Abbas have been charged under the UAPA and face additional allegations of conspiring to tamper with evidence.

Prasad and Mahato have been charged with criminal conspiracy to forge documents under the IPC.

According to the NIA, Prasad and Mahato allegedly forged identity documents and used them to procure SIM cards and open bank accounts. The agency has alleged that the documents and accounts were subsequently passed on to co-accused persons in return for monetary benefits.