A day after a special tribunal lifted restrictions on the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the order on a petition from the central government. Additional solicitor general Gopal Subramanium submitted to a bench headed by chief justice KG Balakrishnan that "Irrecoverable damage will be done to the country's steps against terrorist activities if the [tribunal]'s ruling is not suspended."
The apex court issued a notice to Simi and stayed the tribunal judge, justice Geeta Mittal's 267-page order on Tuesday lifting the ban on Simi. The SC will hear the appeal after three weeks.
Though justice Mittal had revoked the ban, saying the home ministry had not furnished any new proof to justify the curbs, the ASG maintained Simi was a terror group responsible for several blasts, including the recent terror attacks in Gujarat and Bangalore.
The ban on Simi was first imposed in 2001 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act following intelligence reports that its cadres were joining Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and were providing support in setting up of 'sleeper cells' in India. The ban has since been extended every two years, the last one being on February 8, 2006.
Seeking a further extension of the ban, the government had placed before the tribunal evidence of the Malegaon blast in 2006 to show complicity of the organisation in unlawful activities.
The ASG contended that the tribunal lifted the ban without properly evaluating the government's evidence. He said the tribunal ignored the depositions made by 77 senior government officials, including those from the home minister, the Intelligence Bureau and intelligence chiefs of various states.
The law officer told the SC bench that the government had shown the tribunal even the top-secret cabinet note put forward by the home ministry detailing various evidence and intelligence inputs about Simi's illegal activities, besides senior ministry officials' assessments and reasons for the ban on the Simi.
It was on the basis of this note that the government had decided to extend the ban on Simi for the fourth time in February.