Gujarat: Three get life imprisonment for spying for Pakistan's ISI

A sessions court here in Gujarat on Monday sentenced three men to life imprisonment on charges of spying and leaking confidential information about Indias military bases to Pakistans spy agency the InterServices Intelligence ISIThe court of the additional sessions judge Ambalal Patel rejected the prosecutions appeal for the death sentence saying the crime committed by the trio doesnt fall under the rarest of rare categoryThe court observed the trio got employment in India but their love and patriotism was for PakistanIt also said that a person sitting in India and spying for Pakistan as a citizen of India should voluntarily leave the country or the government should search for them and send them to PakistanThe court convicted Sirajuddin Ali Fakir 24 Mohammad Ayub 23 and Naushad Ali 23 on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against the country under the Indian Penal Code IPC Official Secrets Act and the Information Technology Act in the 2012 caseThe trio was handed life imprisonment under sections 121 121 A and 120 B of IPC and section 66 F of the IT Act along with 14 years of rigorous imprisonment under section 3 of the Official Secrets Act and ten years jail under section 123 Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war of IPCAll the sentences will run concurrentlyThe Ahmedabad city crime branch arrested Fakir and Ayub both residents of Jamalpur locality on October 14 2012 for allegedly passing on confidential information related to Army bases in Ahmedabad and the Gandhinagar Army Cantonment to the ISIAnother accused and a resident of Jodhpur Naushad Ali was picked up on November 2 2012 on charges of providing information about the Jodhpur Army cantonment and BSF headquartersA suspected ISI agent based in Jamnagar was also arrested However he was acquitted in February 2013 under section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC for want of evidence He later turned approver in the caseAs per the chargesheet Fakir Ayub and Ali saved messages in drafts to facilitate Pakistani officials accessing them using emailsThe prosecution said that accused Fakir visited Pakistan in 2007 and met one Taimur Ali met ISI agents in the neighbouring country in 2009Police had recovered the map of the Ahmedabadbased Army cantonment from Fakirs residenceThe court held that despite being Indian citizens the trio thought about the benefit of PakistanActually a person who is sitting in India and spying for Pakistan as a citizen of India should voluntarily leave the country and go to Pakistan or the government should search for them and send them to Pakistan the court observedAll the accused are citizens of India and got employment in India But there is no love or feeling of patriotism towards the country Instead they have found love affection and patriotism for Pakistan as a result of which they sent secret information about Indian Army movements to the ISI in Pakistan for three consecutive years and got lakhs of rupees from Dubai the court saidThe court observed the act of the trio has harmed the integrity and sovereignty of India and not one but the entire nation is the victim of their act which increases the seriousness of the crimeDespite being Indian citizens they thought about the benefit of Pakistan They did not think about the security of 140 crores of India but their own interests and the interests of Pakistan the order saidI believe that giving less punishment to those who are indulging in antinational activities while staying in the country should also be considered as an antinational activity the judge notedThe prosecution had taken prior sanction of the Indian Army about what constitutes classified and secret information Gujarat and the Central governments had also given the nod for prosecuting the trio