The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has refused to grant permission for regular phone call access to Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks case, currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. The agency has cited “security threats” as the basis for its decision.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the NIA’s stand was conveyed through a status report submitted by the deputy inspector general (DIG) of Delhi Prisons before Special NIA Judge Chanderjit Singh. The court had earlier directed the Tihar jail authorities to seek the federal agency’s view on Rana’s plea for regular monthly calls to his family.
Rana, a 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, had moved the court through legal-aid counsel Piyush Sachdeva seeking permission to make monthly phone calls to his family in Canada. The application emphasized his fundamental rights as an undertrial and also argued that such communication was necessary to consult family members on future legal proceedings.
While the court had earlier, on June 9, granted Rana a one-time phone call under strict adherence to the jail manual, it had also asked the prison authorities to examine the feasibility of allowing monthly calls. The NIA’s refusal now puts the decision back in the court’s hands.
Judge Chanderjit Singh is expected to take a final view on the matter in the next hearing scheduled for August 1.
