Delhi HC grants 3-day custody parole to PFI leader OMA Salam to travel to Kerala
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Monday permitted Popular Front of India leader OMA Salam to travel to Kerala on custody parole of three days to perform certain rituals in relation to the death of his daughter last year.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja granted 3-day custody parole of six hours each day to the PFI chairman and directed him not to use mobile phone or have any public engagement during this duration.
The judge, while clarifying that he would pass a detailed order, also said that the expenses for the travel would be borne by Salam.
"Custody parole granted for 3 days, six hours a day. One visit to the graveyard, rest (of the rituals to be performed) at home. No mobile, no photographs, no public engagement," the court said.
Salam, arrested in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case against the proscribed organisation and its members, sought permission to travel in custody to his hometown in Kerala for performing certain ceremonies for 15 days following his daughter's death last year.
Custody parole entails a prisoner being escorted by armed police personnel to the place of visit.
Counsel for the NIA opposed Salam's plea on the grounds that he was a security threat, whose presence in Kerala would put a "tremendous pressure of the state".
"The man is chairman of PFI. He is a law and order risk.. he wanted to spread Sharia law in the country. There was widespread violence," the NIA counsel said.
Asserting that ceremonies take a backseat in the face of national security, the NIA counsel also said the rituals in questions were only optional.
He emphasised that at the time of passing of the accused's daughter, the NIA had not opposed custody parole for three days but at this stage, a prolonged custody parole was not possible.
"After a year (of daughter's death) you say I want to go to Kerala for 15 days. This is just a ruse to go to Kerala. One day is alright, he may go," added the counsel.
Salam's counsel said custody parole, even if for five days, should be granted to him on humanitarian grounds.
He assured the court that Salam would be at home or visit the daughter's grave and not interact with anyone else except his family.
He had earlier said rituals were slated to take place between April 18 and May 2.
Salam moved the high court last week against a trial court order, which granted him a day and six hours of custody parole.
The PFI chairperson was arrested by the NIA in a massive crackdown on the banned organisation in 2022.
The probe agency alleged the PFI, its officer bearers and members hatched a criminal conspiracy to raise funds for committing acts of terror in various parts of the country aside from conducting camps to indoctrinate and train their cadres for this purpose.
Preceding the nationwide ban, in near-simultaneous raids across the country as part of a multi-agency operation spearheaded by the NIA, a large number of PFI activists were detained or arrested in 11 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.
The arrests were made in states and Union Territories, including Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Delhi and Rajasthan.
The government banned the PFI and several of its associate organisations on September 28, 2022 for five years under the stringent anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act (UAPA), accusing them of having links with global terror groups like the ISIS.
Last year, Salam had sought interim bail from the high court on the grounds that his wife was in a "depressive state" following the death of his daughter.
The plea was, however, rejected by the high court, saying that Salam was "a person of great influence" who managed and administered PFI for several years, and enlarging him on interim bail would not only entail flight risk but also the possibility of several witnesses being influenced.
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MP minister's veiled remark on Col Sofia Qureshi sparks major row; he apologises, Cong seeks ouster
Bhopal/Indore, May 13 (PTI): Madhya Pradesh Minister and BJP leader Vijay Shah has sparked a major controversy with objectionable comments that appeared to be directed at Col Sofia Qureshi, whom he tried to project as a "sister of terrorists."
Under severe flak, Shah said if anyone is hurt by his statement, he is ready to apologise ten times, adding that he respects Colonel Qureshi more than his sister.
The Congress has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Shah from the Madhya Pradesh cabinet.
Colonel Qureshi had conducted regular press briefings, sharing details of the 'Operation Sindoor' launched by Indian armed forces to strike terrorists, joined by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
"Those people (terrorists) who had wiped out the sindoor (vermilion) of our sisters (in the Pahalgam terror attack)..We avenged these 'kate-pite' people by sending their sister to destroy them," Shah said.
"They (terrorists) killed our Hindu brothers by making them remove their clothes. PM Modi ji responded by sending their (terrorists') sister in an Army plane to strike them in their houses. They (terrorists) made our sisters widows, so Modiji sent the sister of their community to strip them and teach them a lesson", the BJP leader said while addressing a gathering in Ramkunda village near Indore.
He said, "Revenge was taken for the honour of our country (India), respect, and for the (slain) husbands of our sisters by sending a sister from your (terrorists') community to Pakistan".
The tribal welfare minister clarified that his remarks should not be construed otherwise.
Shah's remarks drew wide-scale condemnation, with Congress demanding his immediate dismissal from the MP cabinet.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said Shah, who made 'derogatory' remarks in reference to Colonel Sofia Qureshi, should be dismissed immediately.
"A minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has made a very derogatory, shameful and cheap remark about our brave daughter Colonel Sofia Qureshi. The terrorists of Pahalgam wanted to divide the country, but the country was united during the entire 'Operation Sindoor' to give a befitting reply to the terrorists," Kharge posted on X.
He alleged that the BJP-RSS harbours an anti-women mentality.
"First, the wife of the naval officer martyred in Pahalgam was trolled on social media, then the daughter of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was harassed, and now the BJP ministers are making such indecent comments about our brave woman Sophia Qureshi," Kharge said and appealed to PM Modi to immediately sack Shah.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari shared the video of Shah on X and asked whether the BJP agrees with the minister's "low thinking"?
The MP Congress Committee alleged that Shah's "indecent' and hate-filled" statement is not just a personal attack, but an open attack on India's military dignity, national unity, and women's honour.
Amid the raging controversy, the BJP's Madhya Pradesh general secretary Hitanand Sharma summoned Shah to the state headquarters in Bhopal.
According to sources, Sharma reprimanded the minister, who also met the state BJP president, Vishnu Dutt Sharma.
Speaking to reporters, Shah sought to attribute the intemperate remarks to his "disturbed" state of mind in view of the brutal killing of innocent people in Pahalgam by terrorists.
He claimed many members of his family have a military background and many were martyred.
"Sister Sophia has brought glory to India by rising above caste and religion. She is more respected than our own sister. I salute her for her service to the nation.
"We cannot even think of insulting her in our dreams. Still, if my words have hurt society and religion, then I am ready to apologise ten times,'' he added.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Manoj Shukla and the party workers blackened the nameplate of Shah at his bungalow and raised slogans seeking his resignation.
'हमारी सेना की जांबाज बेटियां आतंकवादियों की बहन हैं'
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 13, 2025
- ये घटिया बात मध्य प्रदेश में BJP सरकार के मंत्री विजय शाह ने कही है।
भारत की जिन बेटियों पर सबको नाज है, उन बेटियों को लेकर ये शर्मनाक बयान दिया गया है। उन्हें आतंकवादियों की बहन बताया गया है।
ये हमारी पराक्रमी सेना का… pic.twitter.com/y591M3ky8G
