Two sons of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin have approached the Delhi High Court seeking restoration of their right to make phone calls to family members while in judicial custody. The petition, filed by Syed Ahmad Shakeel and Syed Shahid Yusuf, challenges Rule 631 of the Delhi Prison Rules, which restricts telephonic access for inmates facing charges related to terrorism and offences against the State.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela took note of the matter on Friday and posted it for further hearing on May 22, after no one appeared on behalf of the state or prison authorities.
The petitioners, who were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in separate terror funding cases, argued that the restrictions imposed through a 2024 circular—limiting phone calls to once a week—were arbitrary. Previously, prisoners were allowed up to five calls per week, as per a 2022 directive issued to streamline prison communications.
Shakeel, arrested in 2018 from Srinagar, is accused of receiving hawala funds from absconding operatives in connection with a 2011 terror funding case allegedly involving Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s network. Yusuf, arrested in 2017, was accused of facilitating funds from abroad for the same outfit and was charge-sheeted the following year.
Their counsel contended that after April 2024, Shakeel had been completely cut off from his family and that the discrimination in the frequency of phone calls allowed to different inmates was unreasonable and violated fundamental rights.
Rule 631 of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 bars inmates booked under terror-related or heinous offences from using telephonic and electronic communication, unless permitted on a case-to-case basis with the prior approval of the Deputy Inspector General (Range). The High Court had earlier, in January, upheld the legality of this rule, stating it was framed in the interest of public safety and could not be deemed arbitrary.
Syed Salahuddin, father of the petitioners, is a US-designated global terrorist and the self-styled commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, one of the key terror outfits involved in the Kashmir insurgency.
The matter will now be heard later this month to consider the petitioners’ request for relief under the existing prison regulations.
