SC Grants Bail to PFI Leader in RSS Worker Murder Case: “Ideology Alone Cannot Be Grounds for Jail”

New Delhi, May 22, 2025 – The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Abdul Sathar, former Secretary General of the Kerala unit of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI), in the 2022 conspiracy case involving the murder of RSS worker Srinivasan in Palakkad. The apex court emphasized that a person cannot be imprisoned solely for their ideological beliefs.

A bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan made strong observations on the misuse of ideology as grounds for incarceration while hearing Sathar’s special leave petition against the Kerala High Court’s denial of bail.

“You cannot put someone in jail for their ideology. This is the trend we find,” the bench remarked, expressing concern over what it described as a preventive approach to justice.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) argued that although Sathar was not named in the original FIR, he had allegedly recruited cadres and organized arms training for PFI. The agency cited 71 previous cases against him, but Sathar’s counsel, Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi, clarified that all were related to protest events and that Sathar had already secured bail in each.

Justice Bhuyan emphasized the principle of due process, stating, “So subject him to trial, punish him. The process can’t become the punishment.”

The Court ruled that there was no direct evidence linking Sathar to the murder and granted him bail, along with two other accused, Yahiya Koya Thangal and Abdul Raoof C.A., on similar grounds, citing delay in trial proceedings.

The case is part of a broader investigation into the political violence that erupted following the murder of SDPI state secretary KS Shan and BJP OBC Morcha leader Ranjith Sreenivasan in December 2021. The Kerala High Court had previously granted bail to 17 of the 26 accused PFI members involved in related cases.