Supreme Court Stays Bail Cancellation Of Accused In BSP Leader K Armstrong's Murder Case

The Supreme Court today stayed Madras High Court's cancellation of bail of 12 persons accused in BSP leader K Armstrong's murder case.A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar passed the order, after hearing Senior Advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and V Mohana. Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared for respondent(s)."In the meantime, the extension of the order of stay on cancellation would operate [on the same terms and conditions of bail] as allowed by the trial court" Justice Maheshwari dictated.To recap, Armstrong was hacked to death on July 5, 2024, outside his residence in Perambur, Chennai, by a group of armed assailants.On September 24, 2025, a Single Bench of the High Court quashed the chargesheet filed by state police and transferred investigation of the case to CBI. The order was passed in a petition filed by Armstrong's brother, K Immanuvel, who sought a CBI probe, alleging that there were major shortcomings in the investigation being carried out by the state police. The High Court held that there were procedural lapses in the investigation and material contradictions in the chargesheet. Later, in November 2025, the top Court stayed the direction for transfer of the investigation to CBI.In February this year, vide the impugned order, the Madras High Court cancelled the bail granted to 12 accused persons by the trial court in connection with the murder. The order was passed while dealing with a plea preferred by Armstrong's wife Porkodi.The bail was cancelled by the High Court considering a submission that the case was still at the stage of framing of charges and granting bail to the accused might result in tampering with witnesses and destruction of evidence. The Court directed the accused to surrender before the Principal Sessions Court, Chennai on or before March 6 (later extended).Case Title: ASWATHAMAN Versus PORKODI AND ORS., SLP(Crl) No. 4327-4328/2026 (and connected cases)

Supreme Court Stays Bail Cancellation Of Accused In BSP Leader K Armstrong's Murder Case

Debby Jain

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