SIMI activists: Decks cleared for release

Soon after,the families of the five men moved the the Indore Bench of the High Court. On Wednesday,a Division Bench of the court ruled that re-arresting the men was illegal as they had not been given any chance to present their case.

Santosh Choradia,the counsel for the jailed men,told The Indian Express that the Bench quashed the February 4 order of the state government,which had added two new crimes to the list of charges against the men,which made prisoners convicted for these offences in eligible for pardon. The Court also asked the jailor to serve a fresh notice on the five activists and seek their replies within seven days.

Ujjain District Jail Superintendent Sanjay Pande said the five men would be released on a bail of Rs 25,000 each if the government delayed issuing notices on them.

The men were among the 600 prisoners released on January 26 as they had completed over half of their five-year terms,handed down to them.