Mumbai: A special court on Saturday sentenced anaesthesiologist Dr Adnanali Sarkar to six years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him for his active involvement with the banned terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
In jail since 2023, Sarkar voluntarily pleaded guilty to participating in a broad criminal conspiracy intended to threaten India’s unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty.
Sentencing Sarkar, Special Judge Abhay A Joglekar said, “…this court requires that there should be a deterrent qua a message to the society, wherein such an act should not crop up within society in any form, more especially when it concerns the national security being put at stake by such elements. He was convicted under multiple sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code, including charges for causing the disappearance of evidence. Thus, the…accused… will be required to undergo such punishment propelling a stringent message to such antisocial elements.”
Sarkar submitted that he is a qualified medical practitioner in anaesthesiology, has no reported criminal antecedents, and has a dependent family, including a wife, four children and aged parents.
Sarkar told the court that the plea was being made voluntarily after legal advice and without force, coercion, threat, inducement or undue influence. “He states that the incarceration under the instant crime has placed onerous burden upon his family, which is facing pecuniary embarrassment,” the judge noted. The judge said, “This court has satisfied itself that, the accused has pleaded guilty voluntarily.
Sarkar had initially pleaded not guilty when charges were framed, but later moved an application seeking permission to plead guilty and requested minimum punishment on humanitarian and mitigating grounds. The defence sought leniency, while the NIA prosecutor left the sentence to the court’s discretion. This court also asked the accused…about any fear or favour or pressure on him for pleading guilty. The accused… firmly negated the same.”
Sarkar has been in custody since July 27, 2023, and the court granted set-off for the period already undergone. In the case registered by the NIA in July 2023, the investigating agency alleged that the six accused were involved in recruitment and fund-raising for the global terrorist organisation.
The judge also noted that the offences were “quite serious in nature” and observed that the plea was “unequivocal, voluntary and made with a clear understanding of the consequences. The maximum sentence attracted in the case was life imprisonment. Upon pleading guilty, an accused gives up the right to a full trial. Among those named were city-based Tabish Siddiqui, Padgha natives Zulfikar Ali Barodawala alias Lalabhai, Sharjeel Shaikh and Aakif Nachan, and Pune-based Zubair Shaikh alias Abu Nusaiba and Dr Adnanali Sarkar. Trial will continue against the remaining accused.
Such an application is usually filed before the court where the trial is pending and may include details such as whether the accused has any previous conviction in a similar case. A guilty plea is often placed before the court as a mitigating circumstance at the stage of sentencing.