New Delhi, Aug 18: Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant default bail to Jasir Bilal Wani alias Danish, one of the accused in the 2025 Red Fort car bomb blast that killed 15 people.
A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan dismissed Wani’s appeal challenging a March 30 trial court order rejecting his plea seeking default bail.
“As of now, even the chargesheet has been filed on May 14, 2026. Thus, at this stage, the appellant cannot seek to challenge that he was entitled to default bail after the period of 90 days as in the opinion of this court, that ship has sailed. The appeal, therefore, is liable to be dismissed,” the bench said.
An accused becomes entitled to default bail if the investigating agency fails to file a chargesheet within the stipulated time.
The NIA arrested Wani, a Kashmiri accused of being an active co-conspirator, on November 17, 2025.
The agency has alleged that Wani provided technical support for carrying out terror attacks by modifying drones and attempting to make rockets.
It has claimed that he worked closely with suicide bomber Umar un Nabi in planning the Red Fort blast.
A Hyundai i20 car exploded near the Red Fort at 6.52 pm on November 10, 2025, killing 15 people and injuring several others. Nabi was identified as the suicide bomber behind the fatal explosion.
Other than seeking default bail after expiry of 90 days from his arrest, Wani in his appeal also assailed the trial court’s February and March orders permitting 180 days to the NIA to conclude the investigation.
The court held that Wani was not legally entitled to default bail after 90 days as the permissible detention period under the anti-terror law UAPA was up to 180 days.
It said the purpose behind increased detention under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was to provide longer period of detention for heinous offences such as terrorism.
Thus, the intention of the special law, i.e., UAPA, shall prevail over the general law, i.e., Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNNS), which makes an accused entitled to default bail in 90 days for offences punishable with death, life imprisonment, or more than 10 years of jail, the court held.
It also observed that Wani chose to challenge the extension of investigation period only after the second extension was granted and his application seeking default bail was dismissed.
He, therefore, lost the right to subsequently challenge the first extension and seek default bail on this basis, the court said.
It also reiterated that an accused was not entitled to copies of the report of the public prosecutor at the stage when the extension of time is being sought by the concerned investigating agency. (PTI)
