New Delhi, May 21 (Reporter) The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to S. Srinivasan, the former secretary of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kerala, in the murder case of RSS leader Sreenivasan. A bench comprising justices Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan delivered the order while hearing Srinivasan’s bail plea. The court observed that there was no direct role attributed to the accused in relation to the murder conspiracy. The court remarked, “As far as the association with victim Sreenivasan is concerned, there is no direct role attributed to the appellant. The allegations of antecedents are in almost all cases regarding the protests which took place in September 2022. Bail granted.” During the hearing, Justice Oka underlined the principle that ideological affiliation alone could not be grounds for continued incarceration. “For ideology, you cannot put someone in jail,” Justice Oka observed. He further added, “This is the trend we find. It is because we adopted a particular ideology that they are put in jail.” The accused had been the state secretary of PFI in Kerala before the organisation was declared unlawful and banned by the government under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in September 2022. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed the bail plea. The agency submitted that although the accused was not named in the main murder FIR, he was alleged to have played a broader role in facilitating activities associated with the banned organisation, including recruitment and arms training. The NIA counsel stated, “There are 71 antecedents against him. He participated in protests, many of which were agenda-driven.” However, senior advocate Aditya Sondhi, appearing for the accused, argued that, “All 71 antecedents relate to hartals. He was arraigned ex officio in many cases only because of his position as secretary general of PFI. He is already on bail in all of them.” Justice Oka questioned the NIA on the nature of the alleged offences. The NIA counsel responded that a photograph of RSS leader Sreenivasan was found on the accused’s phone, and he was identified as a decision-making authority within the organisation. Justice Bhuyan also expressed concern over the prolonged detention, remarking, “The process is the punishment.” The Supreme Court granted bail while reiterating that no overt act or direct involvement in the murder conspiracy had been attributed to the appellant. The court’s order emphasised that mere ideological association or past protest-related cases cannot justify continued detention without concrete evidence of involvement in the specific crime under investigation...////...