A judge of the Kerala High Court said in his verdict that the SDPI and the PFI were terrorist organisations and it is a widely known fact. Justice K Haripal termed these organisations as terrorist outfits while dismissing a petition filed by Arshika, widow of RSS activist Sanjith who was murdered by the extremists belonging to the SDPI/PFI on November 15, 2021 in Palakkad district.
Arshika had sought the transfer of the probe of the murder of her slain husband from the State Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“No doubt, the SDPI and the PFI are extremist organisations indulging in serious acts of violence. All the same, these are not banned organisations,” said the judge in his order after hearing the version of the Kerala Police which is investigating the murder.
The judge further stated that the police have taken care to file a final report within 90 days.
“All culprits had been identified and many of them have been arrested and if the probe is handed over to the CBI at this stage, it would result in further delay in the proceeding which is not in public interest,” said Justice Haripal.
The judge also pointed out that transferring the case to CBI may also pave way for raising the demand by the accused to be released on bail. Given the mindset of the rival groups, if the accused are released on bail that would entail further clashes and may lead to law and order situation, he said in the order.
However, the Bench noticed that some of the accused were still at large. In this context, it was ordered that although the roles allegedly played by them are less important, they have to be apprehended and brought before the court.
The State Police Chief was directed to personally review the progress in apprehending the remaining accused and file fortnightly reports to the court till the last accused is arrested.
Sanjith, a functionary of the RSS was waylaid by a group of SDPI/PFI activists while he was riding a bike with his wife on November 15 and was murdered in a gruesome manner in front of his wife Arshika.
The accused were annoyed with Sanjith for passing on information to the police about the drug trafficking happening in the region.