The Hindu : National : Evidence not sufficient to ban SIMI: judge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 06, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Evidence not sufficient to ban SIMI: judge

New Delhi: Justice Geeta Mittal of the Delhi High Court, who headed the specially-designated tribunal, in her order lifting the ban on the activities of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), said the government only came out with the evidence of the Malegaon blast in Maharashtra in 2006 to show the complicity of the organisation in unlawful activities. This was not sufficient to come out with a notification to ban it, according to her.

Reacting to the order, the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday indicated that the order would be challenged.

“The Ministry will examine the order in detail and take remedial action on a priority basis,” a Ministry spokesman said. He said a preliminary perusal of the tribunal’s order indicated that it had not confirmed the ban on SIMI on technical grounds.

Justice done: SIMI

SIMI’s lawyeer Trideep Pais welcomed the order and said the government had no material proof to support the extension of the ban. The ban was unfortunate, but justice was done, he said.

The BJP blamed the “incompetence” of the Central government for the revocation of the ban on SIMI and said it reflected the “real face” of the United Progressive Alliance.

“The UPA has been incompetent in defending the ban on SIMI. This reflects the real face of the government and its soft attitude towards terrorism,” party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told PTI.

Imposed in 2001

The ban was first imposed on SIMI in 2001 under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act and since then it has been extended after every two years.

The last notification on the ban, which was challenged in the tribunal, was issued by the Home Ministry on February 7 this year and was supposed to be in force till 2010.

The tribunal, during the hearing, had asked the government to bring new facts to justify its decision.

SIMI had challenged the notification issued by the government contending that there was no fresh evidence against it and the ban could not be continued on the basis of previous evidence.

During the proceedings, the tribunal expressed its dissatisfaction with the notification saying no fresh facts were given by the government for extending the ban.

The tribunal had directed the Home Ministry and the Intelligence Bureau to place before it all evidence against the organisation. Initially, the tribunal had conducted the proceedings in an open court but later it decided to hear the matter in-camera — PTI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National