The Bombay High Court cited the ‘peculiar facts’ of the case and ‘the question of security’ while rejecting Fahim Ansari’s plea for a police clearance certificate.
Citing a “question of security”, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected a plea by Fahim Arshad Mohammad Yusuf Ansari, who was acquitted in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, seeking a police clearance certificate (PCC) to enable him to work as an auto-rickshaw driver to earn his livelihood.
Ansari, who was acquitted by a special court in 2010, had told the high court that his PCC application was “arbitrarily” denied, stating that he had alleged links to terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He termed the decision to be discriminatory and taken with prejudice.
However, rejecting his plea, a bench of Justices Ajey S Gadkari and Ranjitsinha R Bhonsale held, “Considering the peculiar facts of the present case and keeping in mind the question of security, we are of the opinion that the authorities have rightly refused the police clearance certificate in respect of the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) badge for driving the auto rickshaw commercially to the petitioner. In view thereof, the petition is dismissed.”
A calligrapher who used to work at his brother’s printing unit, Ansari was accused of having drawn the maps which aided the 26/11 terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab, zero in on their targets. He was arrested in December 2008 while already in custody for a separate case in Uttar Pradesh. In May 2010, he was acquitted of charges, including waging war against the country. The trial court had found no substance in allegations that he aided the attack masterminds by making city maps.
The high court upheld the acquittal in 2011, and the Supreme Court dismissed the state’s appeal against it in 2012 and confirmed the acquittal.
After he was released from jail, Ansari said in his plea that he started working at a city printing press, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. He then worked briefly as a food delivery executive before joining another printing press. Struggling to make ends meet, he turned to driving an autorickshaw.
The petitioner claimed that he got a three-wheeler driving licence in January 2024 and sought a PCC to obtain a public service vehicle (PSV) badge for legitimate commercial autorickshaw driving. However, his application was denied, leading him to file an RTI query. The response cited his alleged ties to a terrorist group as the reason. Aggrieved, he approached the high court last year.( _IE_)
