Chennai: Madras high court orders the Commissioner of Greater Chennai Police to immediately de-seal the rented premises occupied by the banned Islamic fundamentalist organisation Peoples Front of India (PFI) in Periamet for its office.
Relying on several judgments, including the one passed by the Madras high court in the Hindu Munnani Vs Commissioner of police case, the bench asserted that Section 8 of UAPA does not empower the authority concerned to lock or seal a premises. The court further observed that the police have denied the landlord his premises for nearly four years without any justification and ordered to remove the lock and seal within 48 hours. Therefore, the order of the commissioner dated Oct 26, 2022, directing sealing of the premises is clearly unjustified and there is no infirmity in the order passed by the principal sessions judge setting aside the said order, the judges said.
A division bench of Justice Anita Sumanth and Justice Sunder Mohan passed the order while dismissing a plea moved by the state govt challenging a trial court order directing the police to hand over the possession of the property to its owner A S Abdul Ali. In the instant case, it is not even the case of the police that the unlawful association was functioning at the premises on the day when the search was conducted. No incriminating material was seized from the premises, they added.
“In a case where no movable property was found in the premises and the organisation had admittedly vacated the premises, the lock and seal action is not only unwarranted, but done without jurisdiction and in utter disregard to the provisions of the UAPA,” the court said.