New Delhi— In a landmark observation, the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday granted bail to Abdul Sathar, former Secretary General of the Kerala unit of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI), stating that an individual cannot be jailed solely for their ideological beliefs, reported the NDTV.
The order came from a bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, which was hearing a special leave petition filed by Sathar challenging the Kerala High Court’s earlier denial of bail. The case pertains to the 2022 murder of RSS worker Sreenivasan in Palakkad, allegedly involving PFI members.
“You cannot put someone in jail for their ideology. This is the trend we find. It is because they have adopted a particular ideology, they are put in jail,” Justice Oka remarked while addressing the counsel representing the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The NIA, opposing the bail plea, contended that while Sathar was not named in the main FIR related to the murder, he had played a significant role in recruiting PFI cadres and allegedly facilitating arms training. The agency also cited his alleged involvement in 71 prior cases.
However, Sathar’s counsel, Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi, clarified that all those cases were linked to hartals (protest shutdowns), and Sathar had been implicated by virtue of his leadership role, not due to direct involvement. He further pointed out that Sathar had already secured bail in each of those prior cases.
Justice Oka questioned the nature of the cases, to which the NIA responded that they included charges under Sections 353 and 153 of the IPC. The agency also argued that Sathar was aligned with the alleged “India 2047” agenda of PFI, branding it a dangerous plan necessitating preventive custody.
Rejecting the prosecution’s argument, Justice Oka criticized the mindset of prolonged incarceration without trial: “That’s the problem with the approach. The approach is we will keep the person behind bars…”
Justice Bhuyan added, “So subject him to trial, punish him. The process can’t become the punishment.”
The Court found no direct evidence of Sathar’s involvement in Sreenivasan’s killing and observed that most allegations against him were related to protest actions in 2022. It ruled that extended pre-trial detention cannot be a substitute for legal conviction.
The bench also extended similar relief to co-accused Yahiya Koya Thangal and Abdul Raoof C.A., citing the delayed pace of trial as a reason.
On May 19, 2025, the Court had also granted bail to three others—Saddam Hussain Mk, Ashraf, and Noushad M—under similar circumstances, noting the absence of direct links to the murder and the prolonged trial process.
Sreenivasan, the RSS worker, was killed on April 16, 2022, allegedly in retaliation for the murder of SDPI state secretary KS Shan a day earlier—an act reportedly carried out by BJP-RSS activists.
In a related incident, on June 25, 2024, the Kerala High Court had granted bail to 17 of 26 PFI members accused of instigating communal violence.
Interestingly, Abdul Sathar was arrested in Karunagappally for a Facebook post that read: “As law abiding citizens of the country, the organization accepts the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).” Subsequently, the Kerala government also seized his house and other properties in Kollam.
