SC upholds ban on Deendar Anjuman

The Supreme Court upheld on Monday the Centre's decision to ban Deendar Anjuman, a Muslim outfit, for carrying out subversive and anti-national activities.
    
"Your professed activities may be something but your general activities are different," a bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat observed while dismissing a petition by Deendar Anjuman challenging the decision of a Special Tribunal justifying the ban.
   
A tribunal headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal of Delhi High Court on February 27 had upheld the government's fourth notification extending the ban on the outfit accused of attacking churches to foment Hindu-Christian animosity.
    
The Bench which also comprised Justice M K Sharma noted the findings of the tribunal that the organisation was actively involved in anti-national and anti-religious

activities in the states of Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
    
The 82-year-old Karnataka-based organisation was banned the first time in 2001 for two years after it was accused of engineering blast in various cities in south India.
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The Centre has been extending the ban ever since every two years and the last notification issued in August last was the fourth ban imposed on the outfit.
    
Challenging the tribunal's order, the organization contended that there was no fresh evidence to show that it was involved in anti-national activities in the country and many people from other religious communities had deposed in it's favour.
    
It submitted that the tribunal relied on documents which were shown to it, which is against the law of natural justice.