Delhi Court Lets Seven Foreign Nationals in NIA Case Leave India for a Month

A Delhi court has permitted seven foreign nationals arrested earlier this year in a National Investigation Agency (NIA) case to travel to the United States and Ukraine for one month to meet their families, subject to conditions.

The accused — six Ukrainians and one American — were taken into custody in March over allegations that they conspired to carry out terrorist activities against India. They have now been discharged of the allegations under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, after paying compounding charges to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Delhi.

In an order dated September 24, NIA Special Judge Prashant Sharma observed that the right to travel abroad flows from the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and cannot be treated lightly, and that a balance had to be struck. The judge noted that the applicants and their co-accused had expressed willingness to join the investigation whenever required by the NIA, and found merit in the plea.

The case began with an FIR against the seven — Matthew Aaron Vandyke, Viktor Kaminskyi, Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv and Maksim Honcharuk — under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which deals with punishment for conspiracy. In its first chargesheet, however, the NIA invoked only provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

Special Public Prosecutor Rahul Tyagi, appearing for the NIA, told the court that the investigation into the UAPA offences had been kept pending for further probe, and that a supplementary chargesheet could follow if an offence under the Act is established. The agency submitted that a substantial part of the UAPA investigation was complete but more time was needed to verify facts, citing the import and recovery of drones and accessories through India.

Because the first chargesheet did not include UAPA sections, the accused were granted default bail. In his September 18 order granting bail to Vandyke, the judge held that the chargesheet was piecemeal as it related only to the Immigration and Foreigners Act, and that it could not be concluded at that stage that the accused was not entitled to default bail. He added that the co-accused were also entitled to the same relief in law.

According to the NIA's investigation, the accused entered Myanmar illegally through Mizoram without valid travel documents to conduct a pre-scheduled training on drone warfare for Myanmar-based Ethnic Armed Groups targeting the Myanmar Military Junta. The agency has alleged that several consignments of drones from Europe were delivered by the accused to individuals and groups in Mizoram.

The accused were arrested on March 13, 2026, while the NIA's 180-day window to file a chargesheet under the UAPA sections ended on September 8, 2026. The NIA, represented by SPP Tyagi along with PP Ankit Gautam and advocates Jatin Khatri and Amit Rohilla, has not filed a closure report and maintains that its investigation is ongoing.

The court recorded the NIA's suggestion that necessary undertakings be taken from all the accused and that they furnish details of their residential addresses, phone numbers and email IDs. It also noted that the agency had not claimed that the physical presence of the accused would be required in the near future to complete the investigation, and that it could not direct the NIA to conclude its probe within a fixed timeframe.