On Thursday, the Delhi High Court reduced the sentences of two women convicted of being linked with the outlawed terror organization Islamic State Kurdistan Province (ISKP) and accused of participating in a conspiracy to sow terror in India.
In May of this year, a particular National Investigation Agency (NIA) arbitration in Delhi handed down Hina Bashir Beigh as well as Sadiya Anwar Shaikh to eight and seven years in prison, respectively, for violating sections 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (membership and support of terrorist organizations). On the following day, a division bench of the justices Prathiba Singh and Amit Sharma, Jr. commuted the sentences to six years apiece.
The court ruled on Beigh and Shaikh’s petitions for a lower sentence, saying, “Considering the specific facts of both of these cases, the proliferation of crimes through the web and social networking sites cannot be ignored.” The fact that the applicants employed fictitious names to conceal their true identities and avoid detection cannot be overlooked.”
“While encrypted platforms provide and encourage privacy, freedom of speech, and expression, the misuse of them by terrorists and prohibited organizations must also be considered. The appellants have been technologically competent individuals who have used their educational background to advocate terrorism and encourage aggressive conduct against the country. Such cases would need to be handled differently from situations involving innocent people.
Who may have been drawn into crime without their knowledge? Factors such as bitcoin funding, as well as the use of journalistic credentials to create and circulate magazines that promote violence, cannot be ignored, the court stated.
The NIA accused Beigh of circulating unacceptable ISIS materials used in anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, which purportedly incited Muslims to engage in violence in the name of jihad and create hatred against non-Muslims. According to the federal agency, Beigh utilized fictitious identities on social media platforms to participate in “anti-national activities” and conspired to carry out terror attacks in India.