Delhi High Court reduces fine imposed on ISIS convict considering his "impoverished state"

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reduced by half the fine imposed on a man convicted of being an operative of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and being in possession of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) [Mohd Nafees Khan v National Investigation Agency]..A Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar noted that some of the mitigating circumstances considered by the lower court while determining the man's sentence were that he had no social ties with family, was semi-literate and employed as a tile worker when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) apprehended him.The High Court, therefore, said that in view of the man’s impoverished state, the fine imposed upon him should be reduced.“In view of the overall circumstances that have been delineated hereinabove, we are of the considered view that the limited relief of reduction in the fine imposed upon Mohammed Nafees khan in the impugned judgment and order merits interference particularly in view of his impoverished state. Therefore, whilst upholding the order of sentence imposed upon Mohammed Nafees Khan, we direct that the fine imposed upon him be reduced in half.”.The Court was dealing with an appeal filed by a man named Mohammed Nafees Khan, who was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by a Special NIA Judge in October 2020. The judge had imposed a fine of ₹1.03 lakh on him. Counsel appearing for Khan did not press the prayer for lowering of the sentence, as the judges said they were not inclined to grant any relief to that effect..Khan was arrested by NIA in 2015 at the age of 21 years. The agency revealed that he was one of many who formed an organisation named Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind seeking to establish a 'Caliphate' in India. The group pledged allegiance to ISIS and planned to recruit youth to commit acts of terrorism in India.During the course of the hearing, the High Court was informed that the man was second-in-command of the group and was apprehended by the NIA while he was planning to detonate the IED.In response to this, the Bench responded that the lower court had been very kind to Khan for not awarding him life imprisonment, as he had pleaded guilty to all charges.