KOCHI: The High Court said that anticipatory bail cannot be granted in cases under UAPA except in rare circumstances. This was stated after the anticipatory bail application filed by Ahmed Kutti, a resident of Perinthalmanna, who is absconding in the gold smuggling case through a diplomatic channel, was rejected.

A division bench comprising Justice P B Suresh Kumar and Justice C S Sudha heard Ahmed Kutty's plea after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a special NIA court in Ernakulam.

On July 5, 2020, customs seized the gold that was smuggled in a diplomatic bag to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. Later, ED and NIA registered a case in which Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair, P S Sarith and others were accused. The NIA has registered a case considering gold smuggling as a type of terrorist activity that undermines the economic security of the country. But Ahmed Kutty applied for anticipatory bail, alleging that there was no evidence against him in the case and that he was framed based on the statements of some of the accused.

This argument was opposed by the Deputy Solicitor General who appeared for the NIA. According to reports there is evidence about the petitioner's involvement and to get accurate information, he needed to be interrogated in custody. It was also contended that the anticipatory bail plea is not applicable as the charges under UAPA have been framed. Following this, the petition was dismissed considering the argument of the NIA that it was necessary to interrogate the accused.