Must Guard Against Ideological Biases, False Narratives In Terrorism Cases: Kerala HC Grants Bail To 17 PFI Members Accused In RSS Leader's Murder

The Kerala High Court today held that while considering allegations of terrorism and related offences under the Unlawful Activities Act, 1967, the Courts should not get carried away by confirmation bias that might creep in based on ideological biases and false narratives prevalent in the society. “Over and above the principles gleaned from the precedents referred above, we feel that in cases such as the present, where the allegation against the accused is that they were complicit in terrorism related offences, a court examining the evidence against the accused under Section 43D of the UA Act has also to guard itself against any confirmation bias that might creep in based on ideological biases and false narratives prevalent in society..….The role of any court, not just the constitutional courts, must be to lean in favour of the fundamental rights of the accused, and not in favour of the restrictions that can be imposed on those rights”, stated the court. It said: “Proceeding thus, we feel that it is only in respect of those appellants/accused, against whom the material relied upon by the prosecution, when taken as a whole, crosses the threshold of 'general allegations coupled with overt acts that would clearly suggest the complicity of the accused in the offence with which he is charged', that we can say with any degree of conviction that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against that person is prima facie true.” Background Facts Initially, the police were conducting an investigation, during which an FIR was registered followed by the filing of a charge sheet arraying 44 persons as accused, all of whom were subsequently arrested. Presumption that accused is innocent until found guilty, it is dislodged only when accused found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by the court Pre-trial detention not meant to be punitive Examine materials forming part of the charge sheet against the accused and record a broad finding on the basis of broad probabilities regarding the involvement of the accused in the commission of the stated offence or otherwise to analyze if prima facie case made out or not. Court not get carried away by ideological biases and false narratives in society while arriving at a conclusion that prima facie accusations against the accused are true, The court must prioritize safeguarding the fundamental rights of the accused and not in favour of the restrictions that can be imposed on those rights While finding that no reasonable grounds exist to believe that prima facie accusations were true, the Court must find balance between three factors- investigating authorities must need a reasonable time to complete their investigation after taking note of the stage of investigation and materials adduced by them, possibility of the accused tampering with the evidence or witnesses, the likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice.