The Court's discretion to grant bail under Section 43D(5) of the U.A.P. Act is restricted if the Court finds reasonable grounds to believe that the accusations against the accused are prima facie true.

JUDGMENT :

T. Mallikarjuna Rao, J.

1. This is an appeal under Section 21(4) of the National Investigation Agency Act (in short, 'the N.I.A. Act') directed against the order, dt.06.10.2021, passed in Crl.MP.No.613 of 2022 in SC.No.36 of 2021 (RC.No.5/2019/N.I.A./Hyderabad) by the Metropolitan Sessions Judge - Cum - Special Judge for Trial of N.I.A. Act cases, Vijayawada whereby the prayer of the accused/appellant to allow him to go on bail stands rejected.

2. The case of the prosecution, as set forth in the charge sheet, states as under :

(a) On 15.11.2019 at 22.30 hours, counter intelligent Cell, Andhra Pradesh State, received credible information that during the years 2011 to 2019, some unidentified foreign nationals entered into a conspiracy with some unknown persons in places like Visakhapatnam, Mumbai etc., to carry out Anti National Activities in India, money is being transferred through various legal/illegal channels to some accounts of unknown persons of Visakhapatnam, to recruit agents for collection and communication of secret information pertaining to sensitive and vital institutions like defence establishment, space research stations etc., across the country. During the investigation, 15 accused, including 11 employed in the services of the Indian Navy, were arrested on different dates.

(b) Against 14 accused persons under various sections of the law, a charge sheet was filed, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (for short, 'U.A.P. Act'). The prosecution's case, as outlined in the additional charge sheet as follows:

(c) During the search of the house of A19 on 14.09.2020, one mobile phone and other documents required for investigation were seized in the presence of independent witnesses.

(d) During the interrogation in police custody from 05.11.2020 to 09.11.2020, Appellant/A19 disclosed that he used to visit Pakisthan often until suspended services between Pakistan and India and clothes arranged by Ashfaq from Karachi, received by him through the transport services; he used his, his relatives (i.e., wife and brothers) bank accounts for depositing different accounts of money into various bank accounts. The investigation showed that the said Ashfaq shared the amount details of many Indian Accounts, including A8, A13 and A18, to him over WhatsApp and instructed to deposit the money into those accounts and A19 transferred Rs.4,000/- and Rs.8,000/- into bank accounts of A13 and A18 respectively from his Bank of Baroda Account using a mobile banking app, whereas he deposited Rs.18,000/- into the bank account of A8 using C.D.M. of ICICI of Godhra. During the investigation, A19 and his family members used several bank accounts to transfer money to many Indian Accounts in considerable amounts to two crores within a short period revealed. In contrast, they are doing petty businesses like auto driving, casual labour and second hand bike selling, which only provide sustenance for their livelihood. The given particulars of the bank transactions stand in the name of A19 and his relatives in detail.

(e) It alleged that suspected Pakistani I.S.I. recruited A-19 Agent Ashfaq Khandu for the said purpose. In lieu of money received from online handlers through Indian Agents, accused navy personnel, including A8, A13 and A18, shared sensitive official secrets with said online handlers. During the investigation, the call detail records of two mobile numbers of A19 were received from the concerned service providers. It revealed that A19 was in contact with a Pakisthan agent spies, including Ashfaq Khandu, through WhatsApp, an end-to-end encrypted messaging service to avoid detection by Law Enforcement Agencies. It also alleged that he intentionally destroyed the evidence by formatting and selling his mobile phone (Redmi 7 Pro). The Scrutiny of APFSL Forensic Examination Report dt.18.01.2021 regarding A19's seized mobile reveals that he has more than 300 Pakisthan contacts saved in his phone, and the accused was found in frequent con