The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in a plea filed by Kerala youth Thwaha Fasal with alleged Maoist links charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) challenging the order of the Kerala High Court setting aside the order of the lower court allowing him bail.
A divisional bench of Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Ajay Rastogi said, “What prima facie impresses us to issue notice is that first accused has been granted bail and the trial court has passed a detailed order.”
The petition has been filed by Fasal, a journalism student, challenging the order of the Kerala High Court setting aside the order passed by Special NIA court in Kochi granting bail to him in a UAPA case for alleged Maoist links while disposing of an NIA appeal.
The plea stated, “Mere possession of documents of the banned organization along with other books of current political and social issues, to the most, only indicating a learning process from the side of the petitioner especially he was a journalism student.”
Read Also: Supreme Court pulls up Uttar Pradesh, Haryana on plea seeking clear roads between Noida and Delhi
The Kerala Police had arrested them in November 2019 under the UAPA alleging that they were supporting proscribed Maoist groups that had been declared terrorist organizations. The case was then handed over to the NIA.