Chennai, Jan 3: A Special Tribunal today upheld a 1998 Tamil Nadu Government order banning the Al-Umma, a fundamentalist organisation, holding that there was sufficient material on record to show that Al-Umma was encouraging and promoting hatred between Hindus and Muslims.Dismissing an appeal by the organisation's founder S A Basha challenging the lawfulness of the ban, the tribunal presided over by Madras High Court Chief Justice N K Jain and constituted under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, held that the notification declaring the Al-Umma as an `unlawful association' could not be interfered with.The organisation was banned on the night of February 14, 1998, within hours of the serial blasts in the textile city of Coimbatore, leaving 60 people dead.The tribunal held that the material before it could not be ignored merely because of Basha's contention that there was no evidence linking Al-Umma's with the explosions.From the FIR it could be seen that Al-Umma cadres maliciously and unlawfully caused the blasts in different places in Coimbatore, including one near the place where BJP leader L K Advani was to address an election campaign meeting.In his appeal filed in January 1999, Basha had contended that the Act itself had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1951.The tribunal observed that material on record and FIRs revealed that there had been 19 bomb blasts between February 14 and February 17 1998, which had also left 250 persons injured besides, damaging property worth Rs 4.37 crore.The killing of constable Selvaraj on November 29, 1997 allegedly by Muslim fanatics, had led to the killing of 18 Muslims, the tribunal held and said hardcore Al-Umma members had turned intense feelings of hurt and rage into a cause for retaliation by exploiting photographs of the dead bodies.Nine state government witnesses and Al Umma chief S A Basha, were examined in the hearing, which commenced in March 1999 and concluded on December 13 last on which day the tribunal reserved its orders on the appeal.Justice Jain had earlier been asked to head a board to adjudicate the issue, but Basha, now in jail, successfully appealed against the constitution of the Board on the ground that such a body had no power to review the ban.Subsequently, the Government constituted the Special Tribunal after amending the relevant Act, as earlier there was no provision for such judicial review built into the law.The state police later arrested more than 150 suspected activists of the outfit, including Basha, in connection with the blasts, allegedly aimed at BJP leader L K Advani, who was to address an election meeting there.
