Rajasthan High Court denies bail to three accused in Rohingya trafficking case probed by NIA

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed the bail appeals of three men accused in a case investigated by the National Investigation Agency of illegally bringing Rohingya women from Myanmar into India on the pretext of marriage and then selling them, holding that the seriousness of the allegations and the statements of protected witnesses did not warrant their release.

A division bench of Justice Inderjeet Singh and Justice Bhuwan Goyal was hearing three connected appeals filed against orders of the Special Judge (NIA Cases), Jaipur, which had earlier rejected bail to the appellants in a case registered on a complaint of trafficking of Rohingya-origin girls.

The Court held:

“Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, statement of protected witnesses and the seriousness of allegations levelled against the accused-appellants, we do not deem it just and proper to allow these appeals.”

The appeals were filed by Mohammad Usman, Shafi Alam alias Shofi Alam and Rabi Ul Islam against orders dated Nov 12, 2025, Oct 8, 2024 and Nov 7, 2024 respectively, passed by the Special Judge (NIA Cases), Jaipur, in bail application Nos. 78/2025, 53/2024 and 65/2024. The applications arose out of FIR No. RC/01/2023/NIA/Jaipur registered at Police Station NIA, Jaipur. All three appellants, originally from the Arakan region of Myanmar and later residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana and Haryana respectively, are presently confined in judicial custody at the Central Jail, Jaipur.

Counsel for the appellants submitted that the accused-appellants had been falsely implicated, that the statements of protected witnesses had already been recorded by the trial court, and that the appellants had been in judicial custody for more than two years with the conclusion of trial likely to take considerable time, warranting that they be enlarged on bail.

The Special Public Prosecutor for the NIA, Sneh Deep Khyaliya, opposed the submissions, contending that the accused-appellants, without valid passports, had illegally brought Rohingya-origin girls into India by deceiving them into marriage and thereafter sold them. It was further submitted that since the appellants were residents of Myanmar, there was every likelihood of their threatening the victims and witnesses or fleeing the country if released on bail, and that the statements of material witnesses and the victims/complainant were yet to be recorded.

Taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case, the statements of protected witnesses already on record, and the seriousness of the allegations against the accused-appellants, the bench declined to interfere with the trial court’s orders. The three criminal appeals were accordingly dismissed, with the Registry directed to place a copy of the order in each connected file.

Title: Mohammad Usman v National Investigation Agency (with connected appeals)

Case No.: D.B. Criminal Appeal No. 516/2025 (connected with D.B. Criminal Appeal Nos. 399/2024 and 440/2024)

Citation: [2026:RJ-JP:23710-DB]

Counsel for petitioner: Syed Saadat Ali, Nadeem Qadeer, Uzma Ilyas, Aafreen Rizvi, Sumit Kumar Upadhayay, Shoaib Mirza

Counsel for respondent: Sneh Deep Khyaliya, Special Public Prosecutor for NIA