The Supreme Court of India today granted bail to a man detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) who had spent over two years behind bars without any chargesheet being filed. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta heard the petition. After reviewing the record, Justice Mehta sharply criticized the Assam government’s counsel over the prolonged detention without formal charges.

The Court noted that under Section 43D of UAPA, the chargesheet must ordinarily be filed within 90 days, with a possible extension up to 180 days only by an express court order. Instead, in this case, the detention continued for over two years — a duration the Court said could not be justified under any interpretation.

Expressing strong disapproval of what it called “illegal custody,” Justice Mehta asked the Assam Standing Counsel: “Whatever the stringent provisions may be, this Act does not permit actions that result in unjustified detention. This is appalling! Two years without a chargesheet and the man remains in custody? Do you consider yourselves a premier agency of the country?”

According to the petition, the man — arrested on 23 July 2023 by the Assam Police with ₹3.25 lakh in Indian currency — was remanded through a production warrant soon after. The chargesheet was eventually filed only on 30 July 2025. In two other cases under UAPA, the trial court had already granted him default bail.

He had approached the Gauhati High Court for bail, but the High Court declined, reasoning that since he allegedly entered India illegally, he was not entitled to default bail under Section 43D(7) of UAPA, and he had not shown any exceptional circumstances justifying release.

Case: TONLONG KONYAK v. State of Assam, SLP(Crl) No. 10579/2025.