SC Rejects Plea Seeking To Be Heard By The Tribunal In Case Connected With LTTE
The bench said in 1992, the government had declared the LTTE as an 'unlawful association' under the Act.
Published : October 15, 2025 at 8:17 PM IST
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea filed by a man, who claims to be the 'prime minister' of a transnational government of Tamil Eelam, seeking to be heard in a case pertaining to declaration of the LTTE as unlawful.
The matter came up before a bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. During the hearing, a counsel, representing the petitioner Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, submitted that the petitioner was a representative 'prime minister' of the Tamil government in exile. The bench said, “self-declared…”, while expressing its disinclination on entertaining the matter.
The counsel said Rudrakumaran was a legal advisor to the LTTE and had participated in the peace process. The counsel argued that the notification declaring the LTTE as an unlawful association, was not lawful. The counsel argued that the question was whether a relevant party, who had important information to provide the tribunal, should be prevented from presenting the same only on the ground that he was a foreign national.
The bench said the high court had observed that the petitioner was not a member of the LTTE. The counsel insisted that the notification was directly affecting the petitioner. The bench said in 1992, the government had declared the LTTE as an 'unlawful association' under the Act.
The counsel said the petitioner was the person having the knowledge as to what the concept of Tamil Eelam is and the tribunal should hear him. However, the bench said it will permit the petitioner to withdraw the petition. The counsel requested the bench to allow him to withdraw the plea with liberty to approach the tribunal.
"The counsel for the petitioner, upon instructions, states that the petition be dismissed as withdrawn, leaving it open to the petitioner to avail such other remedy as may be available under the law," said the bench.
Rudrakumaran, who was born in Sri Lanka and is now a resident of the US, had challenged an October 2024 order of the Delhi High Court which dismissed his plea seeking impleadment in the proceedings before an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal.
Rudrakumaran had challenged before the high court a September 11, 2024 order of the tribunal which had dismissed the application seeking to be heard in the proceedings related to the LTTE.
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