The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a petition that challenged the order of a judicial tribunal, which had confirmed the five-year extension of the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India SIMI.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the plea that had questioned the tribunal’s order dated July 24, 2024.

The tribunal had been formed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 after the central government, on January 29, 2024, decided to extend the ban on SIMI for another five years.

SIMI was first banned in 2001 during the tenure of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, and since then, the ban has been extended repeatedly.

The organisation was originally formed on April 25, 1977, as a student and youth wing of Jamait -e-Islami Hind JEIH but later declared itself an independent organisation through a resolution passed in 1993.

On January 29, 2024, the government once again declared the Students Islamic Movement of India SIMI as an 'Unlawful Association' under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 for a period of five years and the previous ban had been issued on January 31, 2019.

According to the government, SIMI has continued to engage in activities aimed at promoting terrorism and disrupting public order and communal harmony, which threaten the sovereignty, security and integrity of the country.

The government stated that SIMI is still involved in activities intended to incite terrorism and disturb peace and communal harmony in the nation.

Several criminal cases have been filed against SIMI and its members under different laws, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967.