New Delhi: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in New Delhi on Thursday reserved its order on the bail plea of freelance photo-journalist Kamran Yousuf, who is in NIA’s custody since the past six months.

Additional Sessions Judge Tarun Sherawat reserved the order for March 7 after hearing arguments from Yousuf’s side and that of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which said that the allegations leveled against Yousuf were ‘serious in nature’.

According to the reports, it is the third consecutive time when the court reserved the bail application of Kamran Yousuf. Yousuf, was arrested on September 5, 2017, by the NIA.

The hearing of the legal case of Kamran Yousuf, booked under charges of stone pelting had been delayed on Tuesday after the judge hearing the case did not appear, ‘due to illness’.

World journalist bodies including Reporters Without Borders (RWB), Amnesty International had lambasted the Indian authorities over his arrest. 

“It is not up to the Indian interior ministry to decide what a journalist is supposed to cover,” Daniel Bastard had said, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “The contradictory nature of the charges clearly shows that Kamran Yousuf is being used as a scapegoat in order to intimidate journalists who try to document the situation in Kashmir.”

Earlier, NIA charge-sheet had questioned the credentials of the photo journalist by stating that he has never covered any development activities of the government.

“Had he been a real journalist/stringer by profession, he may have performed one of the moral duties (sic) of a journalist which is to cover the activities and happening (good or bad) in his jurisdiction. He had never covered any developmental activity of any Government Department/Agency, any inauguration of Hospital, School Building, Road, Bridge, statement of political party in power or any other social/developmental activity by state government or Government of India.”

Guest