The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Supreme Court of India, urging a reconsideration of the 2021 Gautam Navlakha judgment. The NIA argued that the ruling needs to be revisited, specifically regarding the power of investigating officers to take terror accused individuals into police custody from judicial custody. This appeal comes in response to a special court's decision to reject the NIA's plea for an extension of police custody beyond the initial 30-day period.

During the hearing before a bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and JB Pardiwala, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati highlighted that lower courts were relying on a portion of the Gautam Navlakha judgment to reject the NIA's requests for police custody beyond the initial 30 days. Bhati emphasized that this interpretation hindered the agency's investigations and hampered their ability to bring the accused to justice.

The case under consideration pertains to the Jammu and Kashmir terror financing case, where three accused individuals were initially granted permission for less than the maximum 30-day police custody period. Bhati stressed that serious offenses had been committed, and ongoing investigations involving the absconding accused were still underway.

Justice Gavai questioned whether the high court had the authority to reconsider the Gautam Navlakha judgment, to which Bhati agreed that a complete reconsideration may not be necessary. She instead argued that a particular line in the judgment required a closer examination, as it contradicted statutory provisions and disregarded earlier rulings of the Supreme Court.

Bhati pointed to the second proviso to Sub-section (2) of Section 43D of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which empowers investigating officers to take an accused into police custody from judicial custody under certain conditions. Additionally, she referred to a 2004 Supreme Court ruling in Maulavi Hussein Haji Abhraham Umari v. State of Gujarat, which dealt with a similar provision in the now-repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002.

Justice Pardiwala further questioned whether the accused could be remanded to police custody again after the initial custody period had elapsed and the accused were in judicial custody. This specific point was considered by the bench.

The case, titled "National Investigation Agency v. Owais Ahmad Dar & Ors.," is currently under review by the Supreme Court.