The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Abdul Sathar, former secretary general of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kerala, who was arrested in connection with the 2022 murder of RSS leader Srinivasan in Palakkad. A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that there was no direct role attributed to Sathar in the assassination, raising critical concerns over the broader implications of jailing individuals solely based on their ideological leanings.
“You cannot put someone in jail for their ideology. This is the trend we find—it is because they have adopted a particular ideology that they are put in jail,” the bench told the counsel representing the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case.
Earlier, on June 25, 2024, the Kerala High Court had granted bail to 17 out of 26 PFI members accused of instigating communal violence across the state and other regions. Those granted bail were subjected to strict conditions, including mandatory sharing of their cellphone numbers and live GPS location with investigators.
Following the murder of RSS leader Srinivasan in 2022, the Centre alleged a larger conspiracy by PFI leaders with serious national and international implications. The NIA took over the case, filing a consolidated charge sheet in 2023, followed by two supplementary charge sheets.
With the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to Abdul Sathar, the case now highlights the growing judicial scrutiny over the thin line between ideology and actionable criminal intent, particularly in politically and communally sensitive investigations.
