Delhi HC refuses intervention in UAPA Tribunal proceeding on LTTE ban

The Delhi High Court has dismissed the plea of a US-based Sri Lankan man seeking to be heard in a case pertaining to declaration of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as unlawful.

A bench of Justices Pratibha M Singh and Amit Sharma dismissed the plea of Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, who challenged the September 11 order of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Tribunal which had dismissed his application seeking to be a party in the proceedings related to the LTTE.

The high court dismissed the plea saying the order of the tribunal did not require interference and a judicial review ought to be exercised with utmost caution in matters concerning the security and integrity of the country.

“The petitioner claims to be the Prime Minister of a trans-national government of Tamil Eelam and the impact of allowing such a person to intervene in these proceedings under the UAPA, that too, when he is admittedly not a member of the LTTE or an office-bearer of the LTTE, is far-reaching, as the stand of the petitioner could have broader implications on policy issues and relations with other nations, which are not to be determined either by the tribunal or by this court,” said the bench.

Rudrakumaran claimed after LTTE was dismantled, its sympathisers felt the cause of Tamils in Sri Lanka should be continued to be agitated through peaceful means which led to the constitution of TGTE, which comprises an advisory board of various sympathisers of LTTE.

The high court, however, noted the state of Tamil Nadu and other sympathisers of the LTTE based out of India were already being heard by the tribunal, by way of interventions, indicating the basic principles of fairness and natural justice being followed by the tribunal.

The court said though the tribunal was fully empowered to deal with the application for impleadment, the same could not be permitted in all cases.

It also came on record Rudrakumaran had previously sought an intervention in 2019 and his application was rejected on the ground of locus by the tribunal.

While the LTTE was stated to have no organisational structure, officer, officers, assets, headquarter or any other characteristics as on date and did not exist, the plea said TGTE had members beyond the ones associated with the LTTE.

It, therefore, claimed the TGTE was not the LTTE, adding the former did not subscribe to all the ideologies of the LTTE and espoused an independent Tamil Eelam using non-violence and diplomacy.

According to the TGTE, the action of the Indian government declaring the LTTE as an unlawful association, had adversely impacted its functioning.

The Centre challenged the maintainability of the petition on the ground that no appeal was provided under UAPA against the order passed by the tribunal.

Initially, LTTE was declared a “terrorist organisation” by the Central Government and in 1992 it was declared as an “unlawful association” under the UAPA. The ban was extended and through a May 14, 2024 notification, the LTTE was declared an unlawful association for a period of five more years.