NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to Thwaha Fasal, a journalism student, in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case, also known as Pantheerankavu case in Kerala, over his alleged Maoist links.
The Supreme Court, according to Live Law, restored the Special NIA Court's (Kochi) order granting bail to Fasal and his co-accused and law student Allan Shuhaib.
The bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Abhay Sreeniwas Oka dismissed the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) appeal to cancel Fasal's bail.
The apex court directed that Fasal be produced before the trial court and the bail formalities completed.
It may be recalled that the trial court had granted them bail. But the Kerala High Court canceled Fasal's bail.
Thwaha Fasal and Allan Shuhaib were arrested by the Kerala police in November 2019 for their alleged links to banned Maoist groups. The youths were expelled from the CPI (M) following their arrest. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described the youths as "Maoists."
The NIA subsequently took over the case. The charge sheet filed by the NIA accused the youths of associating with Maoist outfits. The NIA claimed that 26-year-old Vijith Vijayan, another suspect arrested in the case, who was a BTech graduate, was working with the publication wing of the Maoist outfit. According to the NIA, a couple of more youths were involved in the case.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala had drawn flak over arresting of the youths under the draconian UAPA.