NEW DELHI – In no immediate relief to the banned Popular Front of India’s (PFI) former Chairman Erappungal Abubacker, the Supreme Court on Friday adjourned hearing on his plea seeking bail on humanitarian and medical grounds.
A Bench headed by Justice M.M. Sundresh decided to fix the matter for hearing post December vacations after Additional Solicitor General (ASG), SV Raju, submitted that the medical report from AIIMS Delhi has not come. It clarified that the pendency of Abubacker’s present proceedings before the apex court would not bar the High Court from determining his bail plea on medical grounds in the money laundering case lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In the previous hearing, the Bench, also comprising Justice Aravind Kumar, directed a panel of doctors in AIIMS Delhi to medically examine Abubacker. It had ordered that the former PFI chief be taken to AIIMS Delhi, where a panel of doctors would conduct his detailed examination as in-patient and it would consider the question of grant of bail on the basis of the medical report.
Abubacker was arrested by the NIA on September 22, 2022, and charged under the provisions of the UAPA. He has been in judicial custody since October 6, 2022. He was active in organisations like the Ideal Students League, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
According to Abubacker, he is suffering from multiple ailments, including a rare type of oesophagus cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, hypertension, diabetes, and loss of vision. The PFI was banned by the Union government in September 2022 under the UAPA. -IANS
