BENGALURU: The full bench of the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday ruled that the criminal appeal under Section 21 of the NIA Act is not maintainable against the order passed by the Special Court under Section 20 of the Act, rejecting the interlocutory application filed by an accused seeking a transfer of the case for offences under the UAPA, from special curt to regular court.
Dismissing the appeal fled by the four accused in the case of murder of RSS worker Rudresh in Commercial Street police limits in Bengaluru, which is investigated by NIA, Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices B Veerappa and P Krishna Bhat held that no appeal shall lie under Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 against an order passed under Section 20 of the Act.
“An appeal under Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 shall be maintainable before the division bench of the High Court only against an interlocutory order granting or refusing to grant bail passed by the Special Court under National Investigation Agency Act, 2008”, the court noted.
The appeal was filed by Irfan Pasha, Waseem Ahmed, Mohammed Sadiq and Mohammed Mujeeb Ulla, who have been chargesheeted for offences under provisions of the Arms Act and the UAPA.