Delhi HC's Justice Dinesh Sharma to head UAPA tribunal on PFI ban

Delhi High Court judge Dinesh Kumar Sharma has been named head of the UAPA tribunal related to the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates.

According to an office memorandum issued by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry, Justice Sharma’s time as head of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal will count as “actual service”.

Once an organisation is banned under the UAPA, a tribunal is set up by the government to adjudicate whether there is sufficient ground for the decision.

According to procedure, the Union Home Ministry requests the Law Ministry to name a sitting judge of high court as presiding officer of the tribunal. The law minister then requests the chief justice of the concerned high court to recommend a judge to head the tribunal.

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The office memorandum of the Department of Justice was issued on October 3.

The Home Ministry will now issue a formal notification naming Justice Sharma as presiding officer of the “Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal in the matter of Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates or affiliates or fronts”.

The affiliates include Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI) All India Imams Council (AIC) National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.

The government on September 28 banned the PFI and several of its associates for five years under a stringent anti-terror law, accusing them of having “links” with global terror groups like the ISIS.