The Bombay High Court has permitted the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, to initiate separate proceedings to clear Father Stan Swamy from charges of violating the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Father Swamy, 84, died July 5 at Mumbai’s Holy Family Hospital where he was brought 38 days earlier from the Taloja Jail as a COVID patient.
He was arrested October 8 last year by the National Investigation Agency, India’s counter-terrorist task force, from his residence in Ranchi, capital of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, for alleged terrorist activities, including an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On November 24, the court in Bombay heard Jesuit Father Frazer Macarenhas’ interim application seeking to clear Father Swamy’s name from all charges.
The appeal also asked the court to order a mandatory judicial inquiry into Father Swamy’s death.
The court accepted Father Mascarenhas as Father Swamy’s kin and allowed the priest to sign the application for separate proceedings to clear the late Jesuit’s name from the accusation.
Read the full story on Matters India