SIMI operative Safdar Nagori approaches Supreme Court seeking clarification over abeyant sedition law

Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) operative Safdar Nagori has approached the Supreme Court of India seeking clarification for the Madhya Pradesh High Court to proceed with final adjudication of his appeal filed against his conviction under various provisions including the abeyant sedition law.

The former SIMI chief was convicted by the Trial Court in 2017 and was sentenced to life imprisonment for offences under IPC Sections 122, 124-A (Sedition), 153-A, UAPA, the Explosive Substances Act, and the Arms Act.

A Special Leave Petition has been filed by Nagori against the order dated 15.05.2025 passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Indore wherein having completed final hearings in the appeals, the High Court has kept proceedings in abeyance citing the Supreme Court’s order from 2022 in SG Vombatkere vs. Union of India, which stayed all proceedings under Section 124-A IPC pending its reconsideration.

Today, notice has been issued on the petition filed through AOR Yashwant Singh by a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan, which has listed the matter for further hearing in the second week of July, 2025.

It is Nagori's case that since the conviction under Section 124-A forms the basis of his life sentence, its adjudication is essential and cannot be separated without prejudice. He has submitted that he has already undergone nearly 18 years in custody and can be released only if the High Court rules on the correctness of the conviction under Section 124-A.

In 2022, the Supreme Court had directed the 'Sedition Law' to be put on abeyance till further orders. The Court had then asked Centre and State governments not to register any cases under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.

The Central Government in its affidavit had submitted that "being fully cognizant of various view being expressed on the subject of sedition and also having considered the concern of civil liberties and human rights, while committed to maintain and protect the sovereignty and integrity of this great nation, has decided to re-examine and re-consider the provision of section 124A of the Indian Penal Code which can only be done before the Competent Forum.

A batch of petitions are pending before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the provision pertaining to Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code i.e. sedition law.

Also, Centre had declared the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) an ‘unlawful association’ in 2014. In January 2024, the central government extended the ban on SIMI for another five years. Later, Delhi High Court's Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav was appointed as the Presiding Officer of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to oversee the assessment of whether SIMI qualifies as an 'unlawful association' under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Founded in 1977 in UP's Aligarh with Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, professor of journalism and public relations at Western Illinois University Macomb, as its founding president, this organisation operates on the agenda of converting India into an Islamic nation. SIMI was first declared an outlawed outfit in 2001 and has been banned on several occasions. Members of SIMI have been involved in several terror attacks in the country, including the Bhopal jail break in 2014, the M Chinnawamy stadium blast in Bengaluru in 2014, and the Gaya blasts in 2017.

Case Title: SAFDAR NAGORI vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH