Terror funding case: Supreme Court denies bail to NSCN-IM leader Alemla Jamir

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to self-styled cabinet minister of the Naga insurgent outfit NSCN-IM, Alemla Jamir, in an alleged case of terror funding.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma said it is not inclined to grant bail at this stage as trial in progress.

"The allegations are very serious, shocks our conscience," the bench said.

The top court directed the trial court to adopt video conferencing facilities and proceed with the trial. It directed Jamir to cooperate in the probe and posted the matter for hearing in the second week of January.

On January 13, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant bail to Jamir and said going by the allegations, the evidence and the fact that her husband was absconding, her appeal against an order dismissing her bail plea for the second time had no merit.

The high court had observed the trial judge was trying to speed up the trial and the prosecution was also attempting to conclude the trial as soon as possible.

"Justice hurried is justice buried. We also cannot lose sight of the element that quality of evidence that is to be adduced before the trial cannot be compromised," the HC had said.

Observing Jamir was a flight risk, the court had said she allegedly held a high position in the NSCN(IM) and was also in a position to influence the witnesses and tamper with the evidence.

"Accordingly, the present appeal is dismissed," the order held.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) lodged a case against Jamir after she was intercepted at the Delhi airport on December 17, 2019, before she could fly to Dimapur with about Rs 72 in cash.

The agency said she was unable to explain the source of the recovered cash and an intimation was sent to income tax department prompting an investigation.

While opposing the bail plea, the prosecution alleged Jamir and other accused connived and established a "sophisticated network" through the armed cadets of the "Naga Army" to extort money for terror funding.

Jamir said sufficient evidence was not on record to support the alleged serious accusations against her.

In the judgement, the high court said the NIA's investigation revealed the NSCN(IM) was a terrorist outfit with sophisticated weaponry and ran a parallel government.

"Allegations against the appellant are specific of her being involved in a criminal conspiracy..for raising and collecting lots of funds from businessmen in Dimapur," the order said, adding, "by creating a systematic mechanism for collecting extortion money for the NSCN(IM), for which she had opened, as many as 20 bank accounts, some in fictitious names also."

Jamir and other accused persons were acting in a surreptitious manner trying to leave behind no trail of evidence over the extortion of money for carrying out NSCN(IM)'s terror operations, it added.