The Supreme Court of India has granted bail to Abdul Sathar, the then Secretary General of the Kerala unit of the Popular Front of India (PFI), in connection with the conspiracy case involving the murder of RSS worker Srinivasan in Palakkad, Kerala, in September 2022.
The bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order while hearing Sathar’s special leave petition challenging the Kerala High Court’s decision denying him bail.
Read also: Supreme Court Issues Notice on Plea Challenging ED’s Powers Under Section 50 & 63 of PMLA
During the hearing, Justice Oka observed:
“For ideology, you cannot put someone in jail. This is the trend we find. It is because they have adopted a particular ideology (they are put in jail).”
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) submitted that while Sathar was not directly named in the original FIR, he was allegedly involved in recruiting cadres and organizing arms training sessions in his role as PFI’s General Secretary. The NIA claimed there were 71 previous cases against him.
However, Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi, representing Sathar, clarified that all 71 cases were related to hartals (protests) and that Sathar had received bail in each of them. He further explained that the Kerala High Court had made him a party in all those cases due to his organizational position, not for direct involvement.
When asked by the bench if protests had been made, the NIA counsel stated that there were seven cases under Section 353 IPC and three under Section 153 IPC. He claimed that these incidents followed a specific agenda and that keeping Sathar in custody was necessary to stop him from repeating such acts.
Justice Oka disagreed with this preventive approach:
“That’s the problem with the approach. The approach is we will keep the person behind the bar…”
Justice Bhuyan also remarked:
“So subject him to trial, punish him. The process can’t become the punishment.”
The Court inquired whether there was any specific role of Sathar in the murder or if he was involved in multiple murders. The NIA replied that he was a decision-maker and that a photo of the victim was found on his phone.
Read also: Vikas Singh Re-Elected as SCBA President for 2025-26; SC Reserves Key Posts for Women
Sondhi argued that there was no overt act attributed to Sathar in the murder case.
The Supreme Court noted:
“As far as assassination of victim Srinivasan is concerned, there is no direct role attributed to the appellant. The allegations of antecedents are in almost all cases regarding the protests which took place in September 2022.”
Considering this, the Court granted bail to Abdul Sathar.
The bail was also extended to two other accused — Yahiya Koya Thangal and Abdul Raoof CA — applying the same reasoning. The Court observed that the trial was unlikely to conclude soon, and continued detention could not be justified.
Previously, on May 19, 2025, the Court had granted bail to three other accused — Saddam Hussain Mk, Ashraf, and Noushad M — noting that the delay in trial, which was stayed by the Court itself, could not be used against them.
Case no. – SLP(Crl) No. 12003/2024 and SLP(Crl) No. 11773/2024
Case Title – Abdul Sathar v. Union of India and Yahiya Koya Thangal v. Union of India
