Pak Qaeda suspect to benefit from UK court's historic 'secret evidence no bail' verdict

London, Dec.2 (ANI): In what is being described as a 'historic' judgement by human rights activists and lawyers, Britain's High Court has ruled that a person cannot be denied bail solely on the basis of secret evidence, which would surely help the cause of Pakistani students, who were arrested in April on charges of having links with Al-Qaeda and planning a series of attacks.

Hearing a case of two terror suspects, British judges Lord Justice Laws and Justice Owen said the suspects must be given an "irreducible minimum" of information about the case against them.

"The court's ingrained reluctance to countenance the statutory exclusion of judicial review has its genesis in the fact that judicial review is a principal engine of the rule of law," The Independent quoted Justice Laws, as saying.

The court said that the bail applications moved by the two accused should be treated in the same way as control order cases, where terror suspects must be given an 'irreducible minimum' of information about the case against them.

The ruling is being seen as a victory for the Pakistani student facing extradition from the UK. He was arrested earlier in the year along with 10 other students in simultaneous raids conducted across North-West England.

The verdict has dealt a blow to the British government's efforts against the covert terror activities in the country.

Expressing disappointment at the "unhelpful" verdict, the government said court's decision would make it harder to keep the country safe from terrorism. (ANI)