The case of Kashmiri leader Ghulam Nabi Fai, who has been charged by the FBI of being an undeclared agent of the ISI in the US, has been referred to a grand jury which will determine if there is enough evidence against for a trial.
“The matter has been referred to the grand jury, so no further hearings are scheduled pending action by the grand jury,” an official of the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, told PTI.
A grand jury is traditionally larger than and distinguishable from a ‘petit’ jury or the trial jury, which is used during a trial.
Grand juries carry out their job by examining evidence and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing presentments.
The court official said it was the grand jury which would determine if there was enough evidence for trial against Fai, who is currently under house arrest with electronic surveillance at his residence in Fairfax, an effluent suburb of Washington.
Fai heads the Washington-based Kashmiri American Council (KAC). Meanwhile, following an appeal by the prosecution, the Alexandria court hearing the case ordered that the defence would not make any of the classified information public without the consent of the court.
Assistant United States Attorney, Gordon D Kromberg, had moved a motion for protective order, seeking an order by the court to ensure that secret evidence and information in the case were not disclosed by Fai’s attorneys.
