Delhi, 22 May (H.S): On Wednesday, May 22, the Supreme Court overturned a decision made by the Madras High Court to grant bail to eight suspected members of the banned organization, Popular Front of India (PFI). The suspects were accused of conspiring and collecting funds for committing terrorist acts across India. The Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Bela M Trivedi, pronounced the verdict on a special leave petition filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The court stated that the order granting bail could not be sustained due to the severity of the offences and the evidence collected by the NIA during their investigation. The bench, also including Justice Pankaj Mithal, emphasized that if orders granting liberty are found to be perverse, they may be interfered with. In October of last year, the Madras High Court had directed the release of the eight accused on bail, stating that the evidence collected so far did not justify a finding that the accusations against them were true.

However, a bench of Justices S S Sundar and S Mohan of the high court had described PFI as an extremist Islamic organization spreading its ideologies and had banned it in September 2022 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. With this overturning of the bail order, it is clear that the Supreme Court is taking a strong stance against terrorism and organizations promoting extremist ideologies in India.

Hindusthan Samachar/ Indrani Sarkar