Manipur High Court Denies Bail To Man Accused Of Conspiring To Secede From India To Establish 'Kukiland'

The Manipur High Court on Wednesday denied bail to bail to a man who has been accused of being a part of an organization formed allegedly with the sole objective of seceding from the Indian State to establish their so-called Kukiland comprising of different parts of Bangladesh, Myanmar, and India.

The bench of Justice M. V. Muralidaran denied bail to 39-year-old Mark Thangmang Haokip prima facie noting that he and his associates are working with a serious intention to bring into hatred or contempt against other communities and amplify it as an instrument to mobilize people against the State.

The case in brief

The case of the prosecution against the petitioner is that he is the President of an outfit organisation called "Government of the People's Democratic Republic of Kukiland" which is involved in a conspiracy for secession from India and to wage war or attempt to wage war or abetting wage war against the Government of India.

The petitioner, booked under Sections 120-B/121/121-A/123/400 IPC and Sections 17/18 of UA(P) Act, has also been accused of being involved in spreading propaganda on social media platforms to create instability, communal hatred, animosity, inciting violence, false propaganda, etc., so as to achieve the organizational goal of the Government of Kukiland.

It has also been alleged by the prosecution that the petitioner is a famous social media influencer with a huge fan following and used to upload offensive posts, which may cause hatred and dissatisfaction among various groups

On the other hand, the petitioner argued that the People's Democratic Republic of Kukiland [for short, "PDRK"] was created to spread and clarify the Kuki community's ideology and that in a Facebook post, he had clarified that he was against the idea of creating a new militant group and suggested to resort to politics and non-violence to realize their hopes.

He further submitted that his innocuous Facebook posts do not fall within the meaning of any of the offences charged against him and rather, the protection guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India would be available to him.

High Court's observations

Taking into account the allegations leveled by the prosecution against the petitioner and relevant material adduced by it, the Court prima facie found that the petitioner, by creating a website and uploading various incriminating articles, is involved in a long-standing conspiracy to establish a Kukiland along with other office bearers.

Further, referring to various alleged posts made by the petitioner on his Facebook account, the Court noted that the same proved that the petitioner and his associates are using social media platform as a medium of propaganda to achieve the goal to create instability, communal hatred, animosity, inciting violence, false propaganda to breed hatred and violence to achieve the organizational goal i.e. PDRK comprising of different parts of India, Bangladesh, and Burma.

The Court also opined the petitioner's act of collecting people and funds with a suspected plan to eventually procure arms and ammunition to achieve his ulterior motive i.e. Kukiland is a prima evidence of his clear intention and purpose to wage war against the State in his goal to establish Kukiland.

In view of this and noting that multiple FIRs are pending against the accused, the Court refused to grant him bail and dismissed his plea.

Case title - Mark Thangmang Haokip v. State of Manipur and another [Bail Appln. No. 11 of 2022]

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Man) 12

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