New Delhi: US national Matthew Aaron VanDyke has been granted default bail by a Delhi court in the Myanmar terror training camp case after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to complete its investigation into the UAPA offences within the prescribed 180-day period.
VanDyke was arrested at the Kolkata airport on March 13. The court said that the 180-day period for completing the investigation had expired on September 8. The NIA had initially booked him under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA.
The court also said the six Ukrainian nationals arrested in the same case would be entitled to default bail on similar grounds if they approach the court. The six are Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk and Viktor Kaminskyi.
Special NIA Judge Prashant Sharma of the Rouse Avenue court granted him bail on Friday (September 18) after finding that the chargesheet filed by the agency on September 8 did not include the UAPA offences under which the case was initially registered. It instead invoked Sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. The court granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the same amount.
The agency told the court that its investigation into the alleged UAPA offences is still underway. “In the wake of further investigation being carried out by the NIA with respect of offences under UAPA, at this stage it cannot be concluded that accused Matthew Aaron Vandyke is not entitled for default bail,” the court said. The agency said its probe into the alleged UAPA offences is continuing, and a supplementary chargesheet can be filed if the investigation produces grounds for further charges.
The court’s order deals with VanDyke’s right to default bail after the statutory period expired without a completed chargesheet for the UAPA offences.
He has been directed to stay in Delhi and appear before the NIA whenever he is called for investigation.
