The Supreme Court on Friday, 24 March, held that mere membership of a banned organisation is to be considered an offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).
This reverses the top court’s 2011 judgment, according to which mere membership of an unlawful organisation would not incriminate a person unless they:
resort to violence or
incite people to violence or
perform an act intended to create disorder or disturbance to public peace by resorting to violence
A three-judge bench of Justices MR Shah, CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol held:
"Aim of UAPA is to prevent certain unlawful activities and prevent the same...at the cost of repetition, UAPA is to punish the person a member of an unlawful organisation in furtherance of the provisions of the UAPA...Thus Section 10(a)(i) is absolutely in consonance with Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(2) of the Constitution and thus in consonance with the objectives of the UAPA."