By Kavita Mistry 
The Supreme Court has issued a notice on a petition filed by Safdar Nagori, the former chief of the banned terrorist organisation Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), seeking clarity on the status of his sedition case appeal.
The bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan acknowledged the legal complexity of the matter and scheduled the next hearing for the second week of July.
Nagori, who has been in jail for the past 17 years, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in a sedition case. He had challenged the conviction before the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
However, the High Court recently declined to pronounce an order on his appeal, citing the Supreme Court’s 2022 directive to keep all sedition proceedings across the country on hold.
Nagori then moved the Supreme Court, seeking clarification on whether his appeal in the High Court against the trial court’s sedition conviction can be heard or not. His petition argues that a decision is needed to conclude his pending 2017 appeal.
In its order, the Supreme Court noted that since the issue raised in Nagori’s plea pertains to the interpretation of a decision by a three-judge bench, a two-judge bench cannot issue a clarification on the matter. However, the court has agreed to examine the issue and issued a notice to the relevant parties.
The petition stems from the procedural ambiguity created by the top court’s interim suspension of sedition proceedings nationwide, and whether this suspension applies to appeals against past convictions as well.
Safdar Nagori, once a prominent figure in SIMI, remains imprisoned under multiple charges, including sedition and involvement in anti-national activities.
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