THE Supreme Court today cancelled the bail given to Nakkeeran editor R.R. Gopal by the Madras High Court in a missing person case.
A bench, comprising Justice S.N. Variava and Justice H. Ksema, allowed the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal against bail on the ground that the court did not consider the case material before coming to the conclusion that POTA charges were prima facie not made out against Gopal.
Gopal, arrested on April 11 this year in the Rajamaniman missing case of 1999, has been in custody for five months.
Another bench of the Supreme Court had restrained the Tamil Nadu government from filing the chargesheet against him in the same case till it decided his petition challenging the invocation of POTA charges against him.
POTA charges were invoked on Gopal five days after his arrest on the alleged recovery of illegal arms and ammunition from his possession. Gopal has said the state government was against him because of his reporting on forest brigand Veerappan.