Kerala High Court Grants Bail To 4 PFI Members Booked For Murder Of RSS Leader Srinivasan

A Division Bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and K.V. Jayakumar granted bail to Muhammed Bilal, Riyasudheen, Ansar K.P., and Saheer K.V. in the appeals filed by them under Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008.

The prosecution allegation was that the said murder was part of a larger conspiracy by PFI in its terrorist activities targeting Hindu leaders for creating communal disharmony.

The appellants, on the other hand, submitted that the NIA was purposefully giving the case a communal colour. It was further stated that there were 1014 witnesses, 1688 documents, 696 material objects and 10 terabytes of FSL report in the chargesheet filed by the NIA. Moreover, framing of charges in the case was stayed by the Supreme Court.

The appellants also told the Court that 49 of the 66 accused persons were already enlarged on bail by the High Court and the Supreme Court. Only 12 persons, including the appellants are currently under custody. They have been in custody for long periods, some of them for the span of two to three years.

Considering the same, the Court observed:

“Given the magnitude of the case of the prosecution and the stay on proceedings issued in SLP (Crl.) No. 3658/2024, which specifically interdicts the framing of charges, there is no foreseeable possibility of the trial commencing or concluding in the near future. Even if proceedings were to resume, the sheer number of witnesses and extensive volume of documentary and material evidence clearly indicate that the trial would remain pending for several years. It is pertinent to note that out of the total 66 accused, 49 were already enlarged on bail by this Court or by the Apex Court. Only 12 persons are now in custody. The accused with almost similar charges were already released on bail.”

Thus, it set aside the order of the special court and allowed the criminal appeals.

Background

The appellants are the accused persons in the Crime No. 318 of the Palakkad South Town Police allegedly for committing the murder of said Srinivasan. During an investigation by the NIA into the alleged terrorist activities of Popular Front of India (PFI), it was found that the crime of the appellants was connected to those of PFI and they were members of the said organisation.

On 28.09.2022, the Union Government declared PFI and its affiliates/frontal organisations as an “Unlawful Association” under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Thereafter, the Government of India passed an order directing the NIA to investigate the crime under the provisions of the NIA Act, 2008. Thus, the appellants were arrayed in S.C. No. 2 before the Special Court for Trial of NIA Cases, Ernakulam.

The appeals were filed against the order of the Special Court refusing to grant them bail. In the case, 66 persons were arrayed as accused and in the final report filed, offences under Sections 120B, 34, 109, 115, 118, 119, 143, 144, 147, 148, 449, 153A, 341, 302, 201, 212, 149 of IPC, Section 3(a),(b),(d) r/w Section 7 of the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988 and Sections 13, 16, 18, 18A, 18B, 20, 22C, 23, 38 & 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and Section 25 (1) (a) of the Arms Act, 1959 are alleged.

In May, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Abdul Sathar, then Secretary General of the Kerala unit of PFI in the conspiracy case related to the murder of Srinivasan. Last year, the Kerala High Court had granted bail to 17 of the accused persons on the finding that there exists no reasonable ground to believe that the accusations made against them were prima facie true.

Case No: Crl. Appeal No. 1248/2025 and connected cases

Case Title: Muhammed Bilal and Anr. v. Union of India and Anr., and connected cases

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 507

Counsel for the appellants: K. Parameshwar (Senior counsel), E.A. Haris, P. Vishnu (Pazhanganat)

Counsel for the respondents: Sasthamangalam S. Ajithkumar – Senior Panel Counsel – NIA, Sreenath Sasidharan

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