"Actively involved in propagating revolt against governments:" Kerala High Court denies bail to Maoist terror accused

The Kerala High Court on Monday rejected the bail plea of Vijith Vijayan, the fourth accused in a Maoist terror case registered in 2019 [Vijith Vijayan @ Pachha @ Balu @ Musafir @ Ajay v Union of India]. .A Division Bench of Justices K Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran observed that the material against the accused prima facie showed that he was an important member of Communist Party of India (Maoist), a proscribed organisation and was involved in propagating ideology of revolt against elected governments."The allegations raised are also not of mere possession of documents or presence in gatherings organized by the proscribed association. Prima facie it has to be found that the appellant was a member and occupied an important position at the organizational level; actively involved in propagating the ideology of revolt against the elected governments and engaged in recruitment as also defining the manner in which the ideology is to be effectively implemented in society," the judgment stated..The Court was considering the appeal moved by Vijayan against the order of a Special NIA Court, Ernakulam, which had rejected his application for bail.The allegations against the accused were under Sections 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 13, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1957 (UAPA)..Advocate KS Madhusoodanan, appearing for Vijayan, pointed out that two of the co-accused were already granted bail. He specifically relied on the judgement of the Supreme Court in Thwaha Fasal & Anr. v Union of India in which one of the accused was granted bail after the Kerala High Court had rejected his bail plea. It was contended that Vijayan had been falsely charged in the case and that the NIA investigation had not found any evidence to prove links to Maoist extremism..Assistant Solicitor General S Manu, appearing for the NIA, submitted that Vijayan is a member of the semi underground cadre of the CPI(Maoist), entrusted with the task of operating and propagating the ideology in the urban areas. He contended that the evidence showed that Vijayan, who was an active member of the Students Federation of India (SFI) while in college, was misguided and ended up with the student’s organization, Padantharam actively propounding the Maoist ideology. Further, it was pointed out that hundreds of copies of notices containing propaganda material was recovered from the appellant's residence. The supplementary charge-sheet having been filed, there is no ground to allege delay as the trial would commence immediately, the ASG submitted..The Court went through the judgment of the Supreme Court in Thwaha Fasal in which it was reiterated that what is expected by the court is neither to hold a mini trial nor to meticulously examine the defence of the accused, but to consider whether the material in the charge-sheet brings forth a reasonable ground that the accusation against the accused is prima facie true.While the case against the two accused who are out on bail did not have enough material to reasonably arrive at a prima facie finding of guilt, the Court opined that wasn't the case in the instant matter. "The general purport of the document in the handwriting of A4 (Viajyan) prima facie establishes the active participation of the accused in the organizational development and propagation of ideology, both running contrary to the established administrative machinery controlled by an elected Government", the Court said while rejecting the appeal..[Read Judgment]