Centre questions maintainability of PFI's plea against ban in Delhi HC

New Delhi [India], July 14 : The Central government on Monday objected to the legal validity of a petition on maintainability ground filed by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in the Delhi High Court, challenging the confirmation of a five-year ban imposed on the organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
During the hearing, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, representing the Centre, argued that the petition was not maintainable under Articles 226 or 227 of the Constitution. He submitted that the tribunal upholding the ban was led by a sitting High Court judge, and therefore, any challenge to its order should be made under Article 136 in the Supreme Court, not in the High Court.
The ASG also stated that the authority of a High Court judge presiding over a tribunal does not fall under the purview of subordinate courts.
PFI's counsel countered by referencing a previous ruling by a division bench of the High Court, which, according to them, allows the petition to be heard.
However, the bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela decided to re-list the matter for further arguments, listing the next hearing on August 7. The court has not yet issued a formal notice on the petition.
PFI's petition contests the tribunal's order from March 2024, which affirmed the Centre's September 2022 decision to ban the organisation and its affiliates for allegedly engaging in terrorist activities and promoting communal hatred. The Ministry of Home Affairs declared PFI and its linked groups--including the Campus Front of India, Rehab India Foundation, and National Women's Front--as "unlawful associations" under UAPA.
The government cited extensive evidence, including video materials and testimony from over 100 witnesses, to justify the ban. It claimed connections between PFI and other proscribed groups such as ISIS, SIMI, and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), along with involvement in financing terrorism, executing targeted killings, and destabilising public order. Following the crackdown in September 2022, more than 150 individuals reportedly linked to PFI were detained across India.