The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed appeals filed by persons allegedly linked to SUFA who had sought cancellation of the charges framed against them in an alleged terror conspiracy case, and has upheld a trial court order dated July 31, 2024, holding that the investigation material is enough for the case to go to trial.

Source: The Times of India

A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay K Agrawal and Justice Sameer Jain rejected the appeals. The court said that at the charge-framing stage it only has to see whether the material establishes a prima facie case or grave suspicion, and that the credibility of the evidence is a matter to be tested during the trial. Framing of charges does not by itself establish guilt, the bench noted.

Source: Nation Press

The case began on March 30, 2022, when police stopped a Baleno car at Wonder Chouraha in Nimbahera, in Chittorgarh district. Police said they recovered about 3 kg of explosive material and items including watches, batteries, wires and bulbs from the car. An FIR was registered under the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and the investigation was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which filed a chargesheet against 11 people.

According to the NIA's allegations, SUFA was formed by around 70 youths based in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, and members were allegedly shown ISIS-related videos and taught to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The agency alleged that at a meeting on March 25, 2022, a plan was discussed to collect IEDs and transport them to Jaipur. These are allegations by the investigating agency and have not been proved in court.

Lawyers for the accused argued that the prosecution had not established their clients' involvement through reliable travel records, mobile location data or direct recovery of illegal material, and questioned the arrests and the electronic evidence. The NIA, represented by special public prosecutor Snehdeep, argued that the evidence must be looked at together, not item by item. With the High Court's ruling, the trial will now proceed and the allegations and the defence challenges will be examined in full.