4 min readLucknowAug 6, 2026 05:14 PM IST
The Allahabad High Court has sought a report from the NIA Court in Lucknow over lack of progress in the ongoing trial in a case registered under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against two Kerala-based alleged members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) who have been lodged in a jail in Uttar Pradesh since 2021.
The two accused, Ansad Badruddin and Firoz, were arrested from Lucknow by the UP Police’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) in February 2021, alleging they had arrived from Kerala with a plan to kill members and office-bearers of different Hindu religious organisations and to carry out explosions at Hindu religious events to create fear and terror. The agency claimed to have recovered firearms, explosives, devices and detonators in connection with the case.
Earlier, when petitioned by the accused in 2022 and 2024, the High Court had directed the court concerned to expedite and conclude the trial in the case in which charges of “waging a war against the country” were also invoked. In December 2022, the HC had rejected the bail application of the two.
The chargesheet in the case was submitted in the NIA court.
The PFI and its affiliates were banned by the Central government in 2022 over alleged anti-national activities, terror funding and radicalisation.
A division bench of Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra stated in its August 3 order, “The court of Special Sessions Judge NIA/ATS, Lucknow has not shown its proper indulgence to abide by the directions of this Court, while rejecting the bail application and while passing the order in an application under Section 482 Cr.P.C.”
The bench directed the NIA court to submit a comprehensive report explaining why the trial has not been concluded and no efforts were made in compliance with the HC’s December 2022 and January 2024 orders.
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In their bail application in HC in 2022, the petitioners claimed having no role in the alleged offences, saying they only ferried passengers to their destinations.
They also submitted that though they faced five cases in Kerala, the offences were minor and therefore no cognisable offence could be made out against them from the statements and material recorded in the case diary.
The government counsel had opposed their bail application stating that besides the arms and explosives, a diary written in Malayalam language was also recovered from the accused, revealing their “aim, objective and ideology”. The diary contained words like “attack, burning, US, Ram Mandir” “in code”, it was stated.
The HC, in its 2022 order, had rejected the bail applications on the basis of the case material, observing that the “involvement of the accused in their nefarious designs cannot be ruled out”.
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The accused then filed the second petition, disposed in January 2024, seeking to allow the defense to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses. The plea was granted.
In its order dated January 24, 2024, the HC directed the NIA court to ensure “the trial is conducted and concluded with expedition and no unnecessary adjournment is given to any of the parties”.
Citing the HC’s 2022 and 2024 directions, the counsel for the accused submitted that the progress of trial was very slow and the cross-examination of the complainant (an ATS official) has not been done till the current hearing.
The counsel further submitted that there were a total of 18 prosecution witnesses and the cross-examination of the prosecution witness number 2 has not been completed and thus there was no hope to conclude the trial in near future.
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The counsel also prayed for granting bail to the accused citing a Supreme Court order.
The bench of Justices Chauhan and Mishra listed the hearing for August 10.
