Even Membership of Banned Organisation is Criminal Offence: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday clarified that even the membership of a banned organization is bound to be held as an activity against the integrity and sovereignty of the country.

A bench headed by Justice M.R. Shah reversed the apex court’s earlier decision that mere membership of a banned organization is not an offense as long as the person does not indulge in crime.

Justice Shah, while pronouncing the judgment on behalf of the bench, upheld Section 10(a)(i) of the UAPA which makes membership of an association that has been declared to be unlawful to be an offense.

The top court has affirmed the validity of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, which attributes to memberships.

Justice Shah said that if a person continues membership of an organisation, even after it is banned, he/she would be liable to be punished.

In its previous judgments, the Supreme Court had held that mere membership of a banned association is not sufficient to constitute an offense under the UAPA unless it is accompanied with some overt violence.