SC refuses to entertain NIA plea in Palakkad Srinivasan murder case

Palakkad/New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain petitions filed by the NIA against the bail granted to 17 Popular Front of India (PFI) members in the 2022 murder case of RSS leader Srinivasan.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh noted that the Kerala High Court order granting bail to the accused is one year old, and the HC has the power to cancel bail if the conditions are violated. "Our attention is invited to an observation made in the last part of the impugned order by which the high court has reserved liberty to the petitioners to apply to a special court for cancellation of bail.

"Therefore, the petitioners can always apply to the special court for cancellation of bail on the grounds set out in the affidavits filed in these petitions. In fact, the special court will be the more appropriate court," the bench said.

The top court said the agency can satisfy the special court about the breach of terms and conditions of the grant of bail by producing materials against the accused. "Therefore, at this stage, we decline to entertain the special leave petitions with liberty to the petitioners to move the special court/high court for cancellation of bail. Needless to say, if the prayer made by the petitioner does not succeed before the special court/high court, remedies of the petitioners remain open.

"We make it clear that as and when application is made for cancellation of bail, the special court or high court should not be influenced by the fact that this court has declined to entertain the present special leave petitions," the bench said.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Raja Thakare, appearing for the NIA, sought cancellation of the bail, submitted that the accused had violated the bail conditions, and contacted the witnesses.

The Kerala High Court on June 25, 2024, granted bail to the 17 accused PFI members, who are also facing trial for allegedly instigating communal violence in the state and other parts of the country.

The high court granted bail to 17 of the 26 accused and imposed stringent conditions, including sharing their cellphone numbers and real-time GPS locations with the investigating officer.

In addition, the accused were ordered not to leave Kerala, surrender their passports, and keep their cellphones charged and active 24/7.

It had directed the 17 to "present themselves before the special court which shall enlarge them on bail on such conditions as the special court may deem necessary".

Initially, 51 persons were arraigned as accused in connection with the murder of Srinivasan on April 16, 2022. One among those held died, while seven others are absconding.

Chargesheets against the remaining persons were filed in two phases in July and December 2022.

While police was investigating the murder, the Centre received information that the office bearers and cadres of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates in Kerala had conspired to instigate communal violence and radicalise its cadres to commit terrorist acts in Kerala and other parts of the country, the high court noted in its order.

Therefore, in September 2022, the Centre directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate the case against the accused.

On December 19, 2022, the Centre, referring to Srinivasan's death, opined there was a larger conspiracy hatched by the leaders of the PFI "which has grave national and international ramifications" that needed to be "thoroughly investigated to unearth the wider conspiracy and to identify the other accused".

The Centre directed the NIA to take up the probe in the murder case as well, and the agency filed its consolidated chargesheet in 2023 with two supplementary chargesheets later.

Immediately after the respective NIA chargesheets were filed before the special court, the accused moved for bail.