Indian Tribunal upholds LTTE ban

Chennai, DHNS: The Justice V K Jain-headed Unlawful Activities Prevention Tribunal constituted by the Centre has confirmed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

“There is enough, cogent and relevant material before the Central government giving rise to sufficient cause for declaring the LTTE an ‘unlawful association’ within the meaning of Section 2(p) of the above Act,” Justice Jain said in his recent order, upholding the Centre’s May 2012 notification.

The issue was referred to the Tribunal to probe whether or not there was sufficient cause for declaring the LTTE as an “Unlawful Association.” The outfit has been declared a “Terrorist organisation” in India and the ban on it is extended every two years since former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in May 1991.

Justice Jain’s latest order, published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette is significant amid clamour by pro-LTTE groups and parties in the State seeking a revocation of the ban in the wake of Sri Lanka’s claim to have “decimated” the LTTE in the final war against terrorism in May 2009 which culminated in the death of the Tamil outfit’s chief V Prabhakaran.

-Deccan Herald