NEW DELHI: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal has upheld a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs slapping a five-year ban on the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a pro-Khalistan group led by “designated terrorist” Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
In July 2024, the Centre had declared the SFJ an unlawful outfit under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), citing alarming evidence of its escalating anti-national activities. After declaring any organisation unlawful, the Centre has to refer the notification, within 30 days of its issuance, to the tribunal for confirmation.
Presided over by Delhi High Court judge Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, the tribunal noted that the SFJ targeted critical infrastructure such as power plants and railways. In addition, the outfit’s campaign to incite mutiny within the Army and its attempts to disrupt national events, including the G20 Summit, were noted as major security concerns. The tribunal confirmed the government’s concerns about the SFJ’s deepening ties with Khalistani terror groups like Babbar Khalsa International and Khalistan Tiger Force, as well as its collaboration with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to fuel militancy in Punjab.
The tribunal’s probe revealed disturbing patterns of the SFJ recruiting and radicalising youth via social media, financing terrorism through drug smuggling and issuing death threats to prominent politicians, including the PM. Over a five-year period, the SFJ’s unlawful activities grew significantly, with the number of FIRs against it rising from 11 in 2019 to 122 by 2024. With the testimony of 52 witnesses, including police and intelligence officers, the tribunal concluded that the SFJ’s activities posed an undeniable threat to national security.