Kerala RSS Member's Murder : Supreme Court Asks NIA To Approach Special Court/HC For Cancellation Of PFI Members' Bail

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain the plea of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to cancel the bail granted by the Kerala High Court to 18 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in the case for the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsewavak Sangh (RSS) member Srinivasan in Palakkad in April 2022.The NIA sought the cancellation of the bail on the grounds that the accused persons had violated the bail conditions. A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice NK Singh observed that the Special Court or the High Court would be the more appropriate forum to consider the plea to cancel the bail. Therefore, while declining to entertain the Special Leave Petitions filed by the NIA, the bench granted the Agency the liberty to approach the Special Court or the High Court seeking cancellation of bail.The bench noted that the High Court itself had reserved the liberty of NIA to apply for cancellation of bail if there was a violation of bail conditions."Therefore, at this stage we decline to entertain these SLPs with liberty to the petitioners to move the Special Court/High Court for cancellation of bail. Needless to say that if the prayer made by petitioner does not succeed before the Special Court/High Court remedies of the petitioners remain open. We make it clear that as and when application is made for cancellation of bail the Special Court or High Court should not be influenced by the fact that this court has declined to entertain the present special leave petitions," the bench observed.The NIA had alleged that one accused had contacted a witness via phone; another had contacted the co-accused via phone; some accused used multiple cell numbers contrary to the condition to use only one number; some other accused switched off their phones.The Court observed that these are the grounds which can be raised before the Special Court or the High Court. The Court will consider the bail applications of the other accused persons who are in custody in May.The accused whose bail was challenged in the present proceedings are - Sulaiman CT, Nejimudheen @ Nejimon, Shihas M.H., Sadik, Abdul Kabeer, Akbar Ali, Rasheed K.T. @ Kunjutty, Muhammed Rizwan, Ali K @ Ragam Ali, Fayas, Ashfak @ Unni, Saidali @ Muthu, Mujeeb MM, T.S. Sainudeen, P.K. Usman, Nishad, Mohammed Mubarak A. I., Shihab P.BackgroundThe SLPs challenge the Kerala High Court's June 2024 judgment in criminal appeals filed by 26 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) who are accused in the murder of Srinivasan at Melamuri Junction in Palakkad, Kerala, on April 16, 2022. The court granted bail to 17 accused, finding no reasonable grounds to believe the accusations against them were prima facie true under Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. A judgment dated September 9, 2024 granting bail to another accused was also challenged.The High Court, in its June 2024 judgment, denied bail to nine accused after determining that the allegations against them met the threshold of “prima facie true” under the UAPA. It observed that accusations supported by material evidence crossed the threshold of “general allegations” and indicated complicity in the offenses.The case was initially investigated by the local police, which charged 44 individuals in connection with Srinivasan's murder. The investigation was later taken over by the NIA, which filed an FIR under Sections 120B and 153A of the IPC, read with Sections 13, 18, 18B, 38, and 39 of the UAPA. The NIA alleged that the murder was part of a larger conspiracy to instigate and radicalize individuals for terrorist activities in Kerala.The High Court, while granting bail to 17 accused, cautioned against confirmation bias based on ideological narratives, emphasizing the judiciary's responsibility to safeguard the fundamental rights of the accused.ASG Raja Thakare appeared for the NIA.Senior Advocates Raghenth Basant, K Parameshwar, Aditya Sondhi etc., appeared for the accused persons.Case no. – SLP(Crl) No. 14675/2024Case Title – Union of India and Anr. v. Sulaiman CT and Ors. with connected cases Click Here To Read/Download Order

Kerala RSS Member's Murder : Supreme Court Asks NIA To Approach Special Court/HC For Cancellation Of PFI Members' Bail

Amisha Shrivastava

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