Three others got bail on May 19 for delays in trial and lack of active participation in the murder of an RSS activist
NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to former general secretary of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), Abdul Sathar, in a murder conspiracy case of an RSS worker.
“As far as the assassination of victim Sreenivasan is concerned, there is no direct role attributable to the appellant,” the court observed. It said there was no direct connection linking Sathar, from Kerala’s Palakkad city, to the murder, media reports said.
Three other ex-PFI members, Saddam Hussain Mk, Ashraf and Noushad M, got bail on May 19, citing delays in trial and lack of active participation in the murder of the RSS activist.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed the bail plea, insisting that the court keep Abdul Sathar in custody, alleging that if given bail, he would repeat the offences. The NIA has charged him with 71 cases, including Section 153 (provocation with intent to cause rioting) and Section 353 (criminal offence against a public servant), all of which pertain to a statewide bandh organised by the party on September 23, 2022.
However, the bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan flagged the approach of keeping targeted people in custody for their ideological affiliations. “The process cannot become punishment,” Justice Bhuyan added. A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Ujjar Bhuyan called out on the state’s attempt to prolong his detention for his ideological affirmations.
“This is the trend we find. It is because they have adopted a particular ideology (they are put in jail). For ideology, you cannot put someone in jail,” the court said.
The court made two significant observations: The murder allegations do not link the accused and his ideological affiliations cannot be grounds for prolonging his detention and should not serve as a reason for punishment.
Advocate Aditya Sondhi, appearing for Sathar, said that he has already secured bail in all cases. The Kerala High Court had earlier asked to display him as an accused in all bandh-related cases concerning his position in the PFI.
The flash hartal was called in response to the Enforcement Directorate’s raid on PFI leaders and workers.
The case in question is a series of petitions filed by multiple accused in the murder conspiracy case concerning the alleged killing of the BJP OBC Morcha secretary, Ranjith Sreenivasan, at his home on December 19, 2021. On December 18, the night before Sreenivasan’s murder, the SDPI state secretary, KS Khan, was allegedly killed by BJP-RSS activists.
