The High Court upheld the recent ban imposed on the Popular Front of India for its involvement in anti-national activities.
Published Nov 30, 2022 | 5:14 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 30, 2022 | 5:15 PM
The Karnataka High Court. (Creative Commons)
The High Court of Karnataka has upheld the recent ban imposed by the Central government on the Popular Front of India (PFI) for its involvement in anti-national activities.
A single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna on Wednesday, 30 November, pronounced the judgment. The ban was challenged by Nasir Ali, a resident of Bengaluru and the state president of the proscribed outfit.
The Central government issued an order banning the organisation and its allied outfits for a period of five years with immediate effect on 28 September.
The Centre took this action after raids on the offices of the PFI and the residences of its members across the country.
It came in the wake of allegations that the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), besides the PFI have close links with many terrorist organisations.
The government order had said that some of the PFI’s founding members are the leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and PFI has linkages with the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), both of which are proscribed organisations.
Senior advocate Jayakumar Patil, who argued for the PFI, submitted that declaring it illegal was an anti-constitutional move.
He said that the order did not specify reasons for declaring it as an illegal organisation.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who argued for the Central government, said that the PFI was carrying out anti-national acts and it had joined hands with terrorist organisations carrying out violent activities in the country and abetting such acts.
The court was told that members of the organisation were creating an atmosphere of fear in the nation.
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