Kerala HC Grants Bail to 17 PFI Members in RSS Leader's Murder Case

The Kerala High Court has granted bail to 17 PFI members involved in the 2022 murder of RSS leader Srinivasan. The court imposed stringent conditions on the accused, requiring them to stay in Kerala, surrender passports, and share real-time GPS locations with investigators. Nine others were denied bail.

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted bail to 17 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) involved in the 2022 murder of RSS leader Srinivasan in Palakkad district. The court also upheld an NIA special court's decision to deny bail to nine other PFI members who were co-accused in the case.

A bench comprising Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Syam Kumar V M issued the 111-page order in response to appeals filed by the 26 accused against the special court's earlier decisions.

The court imposed stringent conditions on the 17 accused, requiring them to share their mobile numbers and real-time GPS locations with the investigating officer. Additionally, the accused must remain within Kerala, surrender their passports, and keep their mobile phones active at all times. The court directed them to present themselves before the special court for bail proceedings under conditions determined by the special court.

Initially, 51 individuals were accused in the murder case of Srinivasan, who was killed on April 16, 2022. One accused died in custody, and seven remain absconding. The remaining accused faced chargesheets filed in two phases, in July and December of 2022.

The police investigation received a significant boost when the Centre alerted that PFI cadres had been conspiring to instigate communal violence and radicalize members for terrorist activities across Kerala and other parts of the country. Consequently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was tasked with taking over the investigation in September 2022.

The Centre identified a larger international conspiracy behind Srinivasan's murder, necessitating a comprehensive investigation to uncover the broader plot and identify more individuals involved. The NIA presented a consolidated chargesheet in 2023, followed by two supplementary chargesheets.

It was after these chargesheets were filed that the accused sought bail from the special court.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)