Waheed ur Rehman Para, the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was refused permission by a Srinagar court to leave the Union Territory for a year in order to take care of his father.
Before Special Judge Sandeep Gandotra of the NIA court, Para had submitted an application asking for permission to go outside of J&K for his father’s cancer treatment.
For allegedly assisting “terrorist activities,” Para is accused in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; as part of his release terms, the High Court forbade him from leaving J&K.
According to Bar and Bench, Special Judge Sandeep Gandotra rejected Parra’s plea for ‘blanket permission’ to visit Delhi and Mumbai on the grounds that it would interfere with the trial and raise the legitimate possibility that Para may try to leave the country.
The applicant submitted this motion asking general permission for a year to go to Mumbai and Delhi for his father’s treatment without alerting this court. The judge said, “One cannot lose sight of the fact that.”
The court also noted that Para has a history of making requests to leave J&K and go overseas for a variety of reasons, including a prior request to visit the United States and transport his sick father to Mumbai for medical attention.
The NIA Court noticed a contradiction in Para’s travel petitions since previously, despite being aware that his father had a critical medical condition, Para had submitted an application to be allowed to go for three months to the USA to attend the YALE fellowship. He has now submitted an application asking for general permission to visit Mumbai for his father’s treatment for a period of one year.
Judge Gandotra said, “This clearly demonstrates that the present application has been filed only to extend the trial of the case.”
The Court expressed concerns that the PDP leader would abuse his freedom and seek to contact “elements” in India who are thought to be “running terrorist or secessionist networks” while refusing him permission.
The applicant’s attempts to sway the gathering of evidence also caused the Court to express concern.
However, he was given permission to go to Mumbai on “humanitarian grounds” so that he could accompany his father to the TATA Memorial Centre in Mumbai in April. Para was refused permission to travel overseas for the YALE Peace Fellowship in June of this year.
