Supreme Court grants bail to leader of banned Islamist outfit PFI, Abdul Sathar, in the murder case of RSS worker Sreenivasan who was brutally killed inside his shop
On 21st May, Abdul Sathar, the former secretary general of the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the 2022 murder case of RSS worker SK Sreenivasan in Kerala’s Palakkad.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that although not directly involved, Abdul Sathar recruited cadres and conducted their arms training as the secretary general of PFI. The NIA also said that Abdul Sathar has been in conflict with the law in around 75 instances. However, Sathar’s counsel, Aditya Sondhi, contended that these antecedents were mostly related to ideology-related hartals and strikes.
Granting bail to the accused PFI Islamist, the Supreme Court bench comprising justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that a person cannot be put in jail for their ideology.
“For ideology, you cannot put someone in jail. This is the trend we find. It is because they have adopted a particular ideology (they are put in jail),” Justice Oka said while hearing a special leave petition against the denial of bail by the Kerala High Court.
As the NIA said that it kept Abdul Sathar in custody to prevent further offences, the apex court objected to this approach and said, “That’s the problem with the approach… The approach is we will keep the person behind the bars”.
“Subject him to trial, punish him. The process cannot become the punishment,” Justice Bhuyan remarked.
When asked about Abdul Sathar’s role in multiple murders and the conspiracy to kill RSS worker Sreenivasan in 2022, his counsel said that Sathar was the decision-making authority and Sreenivasan’s photo was found on his mobile phone, suggesting that Sathar had no overt role in the RSS worker’s killing.
“As far as the 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.
Murder of Sreenivasan
On April 16, SK Sreenivasan, a senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader, was hacked to death in broad daylight in Kerala’s Palakkad. He was a former Physical Education instructor of the RSS. Reports suggested he was murdered by a group of 5-6 assailants who arrived on three bikes. They hacked him to death inside his shop in the Melamuri area of Palakkad with sharp weapons. According to eyewitnesses, the attackers were armed with machetes and attacked him several times, inflicting multiple fatal injuries.
Last month, the NIA apprehended the prime accused Shamnad E K, also known as Shamnad Illikka. Shamnad had been absconding for nearly three years. He was arrested in Ernakulam after a sustained manhunt by the central agency.
As reported earlier, the NIA officials stated that the murder was not an isolated act. It was part of a broader conspiracy hatched by PFI leaders and operatives aimed at fueling communal unrest. During the investigation, the agency found that the radical outfit had been radicalising vulnerable Muslim youth across the country with the long-term goal of establishing Islamic rule in India by 2047.
Ban on PFI
PFI, along with its eight sister organisations, were banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs on September 27 under UAPA for five years. In its notification, the MHA said, “The PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts as an unlawful association with immediate effect”.
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