Asiya Andrabi cleared of terror charges, yet convicted on conspiracy in same verdict
Court acquits Kashmiri leader of membership, funding and committing any terrorist act — then convicts her on conspiracy charges based on speeches and social media posts
NEW DELHI (MNTV) — A Delhi court has acquitted Kashmiri leader Asiya Andrabi of all charges requiring proof of actual terrorism — finding no terrorist act, no terror funding, and no formal membership of any terrorist organisation.
Yet in the very same judgment, the court convicted her on conspiracy and association charges.
This contradiction is exposed by the court’s own admissions in the 290-page verdict exclusively accessed by Muslim Network TV.
The court acquitted Andrabi under Section 121 IPC (waging war against India), Section 17 UAPA (raising funds for terrorism), and Section 20 UAPA (membership of terrorist organisation).
The Section 20 acquittal was reaffirmed in a January 15 correction order, also exclusively accessed by MNTV, clarifying that an earlier reference to “conviction” was a “typographical lapse/error” and that all accused stood acquitted of that charge.
Yet despite these acquittals, the court convicted Andrabi and her two associates — Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen — under Section 18 UAPA (conspiracy to commit a terrorist act), Sections 38 and 39 UAPA (association with and support to a terrorist organisation), Section 121A IPC (conspiracy to wage war), and Sections 120B, 153A, 153B and 505 IPC, relying primarily on speeches, interviews and social media posts rather than proof of violence.
The most striking admission appears in Paragraph 73, where Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh acknowledged:
“Any of these witnesses have not deposed about any particular instance which may be termed as actual terrorist act wherein DeM is involved. So much so, in the entire evidence adduced by prosecution after framing of charges, there is no evidence regarding any incident or act which can be said to be an actual terrorist act.”
The correction order reveals something equally troubling.
Beyond clarifying the Section 20 acquittal, the court directed that an internal note — “(Dictation on no witness stated about any actual terrorist act)” — be struck from the record.
This dictation note, which accidentally appeared in the initial final judgment, confirms the court’s own recognition that no testimony established any terrorist act.
The correction was made at the “oral request” of NIA Investigating Officer Sh. Abhinav Kajla.
The judgment thus presents a fundamental contradiction: the accused were acquitted of waging war under Section 121 IPC because no violence was proven, yet convicted of conspiracy to wage war under Section 121A based on the same evidence.
They were acquitted of terrorist organisation membership under Section 20, yet convicted of association under Section 38.
They were acquitted of funding terrorism, yet convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, despite no terrorist act being identified.
Andrabi, 64, founder of the women’s organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat, has spent nearly eight years in pre-trial detention since her April 2018 arrest.
The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on January 17, with the convictions carrying potential life imprisonment.
The case reflects broader concerns about UAPA. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and UN human rights experts have criticised the law for being weaponised against activists, with its stringent bail provisions making prolonged detention “a form of punishment”: despite only 2.2% of cases resulting in conviction.
The question now before the court: can conspiracy to commit terrorism be proven when the court itself found no evidence of any terrorist act?
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