UAPA tribunal upholds 5-year ban on Pannun’s Sikhs for Justice
New Delhi: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) Tribunal has upheld Indian government’s decision to impose a five-year ban on Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a pro-Khalistan group led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the tribunal, headed by Delhi High Court Judge Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, was constituted to review the validity of the ban imposed by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
The tribunal confirmed the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which had imposed the five-year ban on SFJ. The group, led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was formally banned by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs in July 2024.
The Ministry had extended the ban on SFJ under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, citing the group’s involvement in “anti-India and subversive activities aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.”
A similar ban was previously imposed on SFJ by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2019.
