Kerala HC grants bail to alleged LTTE operative

The Kerala High Court has granted bail to an alleged operative of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who had been charged with attempting to revive the outfit to wage war against Sri Lanka.

While setting aside a special court’s order that had rejected the bail plea of Satgunam, a Division Bench of Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice P.V. Balakrishnan on Wednesday allowed his appeal seeking bail citing his prolonged incarceration and his constitutional right to a speedy trial as envisaged in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The appellant is a Sri Lankan citizen who resided in Chennai as a refugee. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had charged him with conspiring to revive the banned organisation and to wage war against Sri Lanka. For this, he was charged under multiple provisions of the IPC and the UAPA, to name a few. The agency had alleged that he conspired to traffic narcotics and arms in order to revive the organisation.

The court observed that the appellant was in custody since October 2021, while a status report from the trial court indicated that the trial is unlikely to begin before January 2027. While allowing his bail plea, the court said that he ought to take prior permission of the special court to leave Kerala and had to surrender his passport. It also directed that he use a mobile number that is accessible to the NIA.