Passing the order, a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Shiva Kirti Singh and Justice Sanjay Mishra also directed the state government to file an affidavit on December 17, the next date of hearing in the matter, containing details of persons who are either lodged in jails in connection with terrorist activities or are facing trial in such cases but are absconding.
The order came on a bunch of PILs, which have been clubbed together by the court, wherein it has been alleged that the state government was planning to withdraw cases against those named as accused in terrorist strikes like the Varanasi serial bomb blasts of 2006 and the attack on a CRPF camp at Rampur a year later.
The petitioners had alleged that the move had followed a promise made by the ruling Samajwadi Party, prior to the assembly elections held earlier this year, that all those who had been falsely implicated in criminal cases during the previous BSP regime will be set free once it came to power.
Mystery continues to shroud the UP government's stand in this regard, with the petitioners alleging that notifications have been issued to the effect and media reports claiming that files of terror attack cases have been sought for "reconsideration" even as top functionaries like PWD minister and senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav have asserted that there was "no question of freeing terrorists".