Supreme Court Quashes Order Discharging Kerala Man Accused Under Anti-Terror Law

The Kerala high court had passed the order in 2019 while dealing with the petitions filed by the accused against the sessions court's order.

The Supreme Court has quashed the Kerala High Court order which discharged an accused, arrested for his alleged Maoist links, for the purported offences including sedition and under the provisions of the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in three cases.

Dealing with the appeals filed by Kerala and others, the Supreme Court said the high court's September 2019 was passed by a single judge which can be said to be "absolutely contrary" to the statutory provision under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act and the law laid down earlier by the top court.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and A S Bopanna was told by senior advocate Maninder Singh, who was appearing for the state, that revision petitions filed by accused Roopesh in the high court against the order of a special court refusing to discharge him for these offences ought to have been heard by a division bench as mandated under sub-section (2) of section 21 of the NIA Act.

"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 said in its October 29 order.