Madras HC suspends life sentence imposed on Maoist Roopesh

Madurai: Madras high court suspended the life sentence imposed on Maoist Roopesh by the trial court in Sivaganga district for an offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a case involving the procurement of a SIM card using forged documents.The case of the prosecution is that police officials received secret information that the members of the banned Maoist organisation had conspired and arranged a secret meeting to revive their activities in 2015. Five individuals, including Roopesh, were apprehended. They raised slogans for armed rebellion, saying that it is the only way to establish the rule of the people. An FIR was registered by the Q Branch CID, Coimbatore district. The main case is pending before the principal district court in Coimbatore, in which Roopesh was granted statutory bail.Insofar as the present case was concerned, police found out that Roopesh fraudulently obtained a ration card copy from a person in Sivaganga district. By forging the ration card as proof, Roopesh, claiming to be a resident of Sivaganga, purchased a SIM card from a shop in Kanyakumari district in April 2012. Roopesh used the SIM card for illegal activities for the Maoist movement and abandoned it. A separate case was registered against Roopesh for various offences, including cheating and forgery under sections of IPC and under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.On July 18, 2025, the Sivaganga principal district and sessions court convicted and sentenced Roopesh to life imprisonment. Challenging it, Roopesh preferred a criminal appeal before HC in 2025. In 2026, Roopesh also filed a suspension of sentence application seeking to grant him bail till the disposal of the criminal appeal.The state vehemently opposed the grant of bail on the ground that there are 16 previous cases against him in Tamil Nadu, 26 in Kerala, and two in Karnataka.A division bench of justice N Anand Venkatesh and justice P Dhanabal observed that even though the petitioner has been enlarged on bail in all the other cases, this is the only case where he is suffering incarceration. There are vital points that have been raised which require consideration, and it will take some more time for the court to hear the criminal appeal on merits since the appeal is of the year 2025.Hence, the judges suspended the life sentence imposed on Roopesh and imposed certain conditions. The judges directed the petitioner to appear before the principal district and sessions court in Sivaganga every Monday and Friday at 10.30am, till further orders.