Aayushi Srivastava –
Published On: November 3, 2021 at 17:27 IST
On 29th October 2021, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices M.R. Shah and A.S. Bopanna, quashed a September 2019 Kerala High Court order passed by a Single Judge Bench that discharged an Accused arrested for his alleged Maoist links and alleged offenses including sedition.
The Accused, Roopesh, was arrested in December 2015 under the provisions of the Anti-Terror Law, the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act (UAPA), in three cases.
Appearing for the State, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh told the Bench , as per section 21 (2) of the National Investigation Agency Act (NIA), such Petitions to be heard by a Division Bench.
The Supreme Court observed, “In the present case, admittedly, the impugned Judgment and Order has been passed by the learned Single Judge which can be said to be absolutely contrary to the statutory provision, namely, Section 21(1) and 21(2) of the NIA Act and the law laid down by this Court in the aforesaid decisions”.
The said Revision Petition was filed by the accused in the Kerala High Court against the order of a Special Court refusing to discharge him. The High Court had allowed the Revision Petitions and discharged him for the alleged offenses under sections 20 and 38 of the UAPA and section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code.
“In view of the above, all these appeals succeed and the common impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court…discharging the accused is hereby quashed and set aside and the matters are remanded to the high court to decide the revision petition…afresh by the division bench in accordance with law and on merits,” the Bench stated in its October 29th order.
Click here to read/download the Order
Also Read: UAPA Case: SC grants Bail to Thaha, NIA’s Appeal against Allan dismissed
Supreme Court: Magistrates can’t extend probe deadline in UAPA cases