'Can't Put Someone In Jail For Ideology; This Trend We Find' : Supreme Court Grants Bail To PFI Member In RSS Worker's Murder Case

The Supreme Court today granted bail to Abdul Sathar, then Secretary General of the Kerala unit of Popular Front of India (PFI), in the conspiracy case related to the murder of RSS worker Srinivasan in Palakkad, Kerala in September 2022.A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order while hearing Sathar's special leave petition against the denial of bail by the Kerala High Court. During the hearing, Justice Oka remarked, “For ideology you cannot put someone in jail.” He further remarked, “This is the trend we find. It is because they have adopted a particular ideology (they are put in jail).” The counsel for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), submitted that although Sathar is not named in the main FIR concerning the murder, he took steps to recruit cadres and conduct arms training as the General Secretary of PFI. The counsel stated that there were 71 antecedents against him.Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi, appearing for Sathar, argued that all 71 antecedents pertained to hartal-related incidents. He submitted that the Kerala High Court had directed that Sathar be arraigned in all such cases ex officio due to his position as Secretary General. He added that Sathar had already secured bail in all these cases.When Justice Oka asked whether protests had been made, the NIA counsel responded that there were seven cases under Section 353 and three under Section 153 of the IPC. He alleged that Sathar had participated in all such activities and continued to repeat the offences. He said the protests were aligned with a specific agenda of India 2047 and that there was no other way to prevent him from committing further offences than to keep him in custody. He further argued that the ideology in question leads to serious offences.However, Justice Oka expressed concern with the approach of keeping a person behind bars to prevent the commission of future offences, stating, “That's the problem with the approach. The approach is we will keep the person behind the bar...”Justice Bhuyan added, “So subject him to trial, punish him. The process can't become the punishment.”Justice Oka questioned whether there was any allegation that Sathar was involved in multiple murders and asked what his specific role in the conspiracy was. The counsel replied that Sathar was a decision-making person and that a photo of the murder victim Sreenivasan was found on his phone.Sondhi submitted that no overt act was attributed to Sathar.In its order, the Court noted, “As far as assassination of victim Srinivasan is concerned, there is no direct role attributed to the appellant. The allegations of antecedents are in almost all cases regarding the protests which took place in September 2022.” On this basis, the Court granted bail to Abdul Sathar.The present case is part of a group of petitions filed by various accused in the case. On May 19, 2025, the Court granted bail to three of them, namely, Saddam Hussain Mk, Ashraf, and Noushad M, noting that their trial was stayed by the Court itself and thus delay in completion of trial could not be held against them. The Court had also observed that the allegations against those three were not of active participation in the murder. The bail was granted in view of the nature of allegations and the prolonged delay in commencement of the trial.Today, the Court granted bail to two more accused apart from Sathar - Yahiya Koya Thangal and Abdul Raoof CA - applying the same reasoning that trial is not likely to conclude in the near future.Case no. – SLP(Crl) No. 12003/2024 and SLP(Crl) No. 11773/2024Case Title – Abdul Sathar v. Union of India and Yahiya Koya Thangal v. Union of India

'Can't Put Someone In Jail For Ideology; This Trend We Find' : Supreme Court Grants Bail To PFI Member In RSS Worker's Murder Case

Amisha Shrivastava

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