RSS leader murder: Supreme Court issues notice on NIA's plea against bail to PFI members

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a NIA plea against bail to 17 accused PFI members in the 2022 murder case of RSS leader Ranjith Srinivasan in Palakkad district of Kerala.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih issued notice to the accused and sought their response.

During the hearing, the court was informed now all cases, including the ones filed by the accused who were denied bail, were listed for hearing after the bench's order.

The court expressed anguish that six petitions were not getting listed despite its directions.

"When there is order of the court directing listing of the cases specifically assigned to this bench the registry cannot defy the order and refuse to list the case on the ground that there was non-compliance with procedural aspects," the bench said.

The matter was posted on January 17, 2025.

The Kerala High Court on June 25 granted bail to 17 accused PFI members who are also facing trial for allegedly instigating communal violence in the state and other parts of the country.

Granting bail to 17 of the 26 accused, the high court imposed stringent conditions, which include sharing their cellphone numbers and real-time GPS locations with the investigating officer.

Aside from that, the accused were ordered not to leave Kerala, surrender their passports and keep their cellphones charged and active round-the-clock.

It had directed the 17 accused to "present themselves before the special court which shall enlarge them on bail on such conditions as the special court may deem necessary".

Initially, 51 persons were arraigned as accused in connection with the murder of Srinivasan on April 16, 2022. One among those held died and seven others could not be arrested as they absconded.

Chargesheets against the remaining persons were filed in two phases in July and December, 2022.

While police was investigating the murder, the Centre received information that the office bearers and cadres of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates in Kerala had conspired to instigate communal violence and radicalise its cadres to commit terrorist acts in Kerala and other parts of the country, the high court noted in its order.

Therefore, the Centre in September, 2022 directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take up and investigate the case against the accused.

On December 19, 2022, the Centre, referring to Srinivasan's death, opined there was a larger conspiracy hatched by the leaders of the PFI "which has grave national and international ramifications" that needed to be "thoroughly investigated to unearth the wider conspiracy and to identify the other accused".

The Centre directed the NIA to take up the probe in the murder case as well, and the agency filed its consolidated chargesheet in 2023 with two supplementary chargesheets later.

It was immediately after the respective NIA chargesheets before the special court the accused moved for bail.