NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old Kashmiri continues to languish in the Meerut Jail, more than three months after the Central Review Committee (No.1) on POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) recommended withdrawal of charges against him and asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to issue directions to the public prosecutor to ensure that he complied with the Committee's orders.

Sheikh Miraj Hassan, a final year student of B.Sc. Agriculture in Shamli, was arrested along with Aizaz Hussain Jan, a third-year student, in March 2003.

The police recovered a telephone diary with Jammu and Kashmir numbers from Miraj Hassan. They said they recovered a mobile phone, a map on Delhi, sketches of strategic locations in Delhi, a grenade and 15 cartridges from Aizaz Hussain Jan. The police, in its seizure memo, said they tried their best to have independent witnesses for the recovery but nobody came forward to depose for fear of the accused.

Based on confessional statements given before the Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffar Nagar (to which the accused admitted before the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate), the police alleged that the two were members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation. They were charged under POTA and offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) relating to sedition and waging war against the Government of India. Based on Aizaz Hussain Jan's confessional statement, the police arrested his cousin Sajjad Hussain Jan. The police said they were planning to attack "sensitive areas" in Delhi and Mumbai.

The POTA Review Committee, chaired by Justice P.N. Nag (retd.), held that it was a prima facie case against Aizaz Hussain Jan and Sajjad Hussain Jan but there was no prima facie case against Sheikh Miraj Hassan. The Committee held that the police had failed to show that telephone numbers written in the diary recovered from Sheikh Miraj Hassan were linked to any terrorist.

Saying that it was not persuaded to rely upon Miraj Hassan's confessional statement, the Committee held that there was not an iota of evidence against him.

The Committee, in its order dated May 5, 2005, instructed the public prosecutor to file an application for withdrawal under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code without delay, and asked the Special Court to dispose of the application as early as possible.

The designated POTA Judge, P.N. Rai, who earlier rejected applications to let Miraj Hassan out on bail, will hear his plea on August 29

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