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Karnataka High Court rejects NIA petition seeking transfer of case against CPI (Maoist) member Anirudda Rajan

Anirudda Rajan, a resident of Tamil Nadu, was arrested by the Bengaluru police in 2024. He is now being investigated by the Central Crime Branch under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other enactments.

2 min readBengaluruJan 22, 2026 12:58 PM IST

The court has granted liberty to the agency to move an application at an appropriate stage if Rajan is made an accused in the case pending in Uttar Pradesh. (File Photo)

The Karnataka High Court Monday upheld a trial court order rejecting the National Investigation Agency (NIA)’s plea to transfer a case against Anirudda Rajan, a member of the banned CPI (Maoist), from Bengaluru to Uttar Pradesh, noting that he is only a suspect in the UP case and has neither been named as an accused nor chargesheeted there.

Rajan, a resident of Tamil Nadu, was arrested by the Bengaluru police in 2024. He is now being investigated by the Central Crime Branch under Section 10 (penalty for being a member of an unlawful association) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, as well as under other enactments. His case is pending before the Special Judge for Trial of NIA Cases, Bengaluru.

Section 8 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, empowers the central agency to investigate any other offence which the accused is alleged to have committed if the offence is connected with the scheduled offence. The agency also has the power to investigate all the offences and, for convenience, may seek the transfer of offences for trial at one place.

A division bench of Justice D K Singh and Justice S Rachaiah upheld the trial court order, saying, “As of today, the second respondent (Rajan) is not an accused nor a chargesheet has been filed against him before the NIA Court of Lucknow. We, therefore, do not find that the Trial Court has committed an error of law or jurisdiction.”

The court has granted liberty to the agency to move an application at an appropriate stage if Rajan is made an accused in the case pending in Uttar Pradesh.