[UAPA] Delhi High Court to examine whether accused should be given public prosecutor's report while extending remand beyond 90 days

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that it will decide the issue of whether a person charged under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) should be provided a copy of report prepared by the public prosecutor at the time of extension of his remand by the trial court for a further period of 90 days..Section 43D(2) of the UAPA provides that if it is not possible to complete the investigation within the period of ninety days, the Court may, if it is satisfied with the report of the public prosecutor indicating the progress of the investigation and the specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the 90 days, extend such detention up to 180 days. .A division bench of Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal framed three questions and said that it will answer them while deciding a batch of appeals challenging extension of pre-charge detention. .The questions framed by the bench are:Whether at the time of grant of extension of time for further period of 90 days of remand by judge under section 43D(2) of UAPA, copy of report of the public prosecutor has to be provided to the accused;Whether at the stage of extension of remand for the period of 90 days, the report of the public prosecutor should satisfy the three requirements i.e. progress of investigation carried out, whether further investigation is required to be done and whether continued detention of the accused for further investigation for the next 90 days is necessary;Whether the special court can grant extension of remand for further 90 days beyond the initial period of 90 days in one go or the said remand should be granted as per requirement of investigation so as to oversee progress of investigation in next 90 days..The Court is seized of five appeals challenging the trial court’s order extending detention period from 90 days to 180 days.One of the appeals is by Zeeshan Qamar who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly travelling to Pakistan and receiving training in handling explosives as ISI was plotting a serial blast in India.Another petition is by Kashmiri photo-journalist Mohammad Manan Dar challenging extension of his detention. Dar has also sought his release on default bail citing failure by the investigating agency (NIA) to file chargesheet in the case..After framing the three questions the Court directed the parties to file their written submissions on the questions of law. The bench said that it will first hear the appeals on the questions of law and, thereafter, the appeals will be heard on merits. The matters will be heard next on November 9.