The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) till the second week of October.

Acceeding to the Centre’s plea, the Bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam posted the matter for final disposal in October. Till then, the court’s order banning the outfit will remain in force.

Originally, the matter was scheduled for hearing on September 24. However, seeking some more time, the Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium made an urgent request to adjourn the matter and, meanwhile, extend the ban on SIMI till then.

The UPA Government had rushed to the apex court challenging the decision of the Special Tribunal, which had cancelled the notification of the Centre banning the SIMI. Justice Geeta Mittal of the Delhi High Court, who heads the tribunal, had said that the ban must be lifted, as the evidence presented by the Centre to justify extension of the ban was inadequate.

On August 6, a day after the Tribunal decision, the apex court stayed the operation of the order acting on an appeal filed by the government. The Government, which filed its supplementary affidavit last month, contended that around 1,900 SIMI activists were at present lodged in prisons across the country with 89 cases registered against them. Seeking an absolute ban on SIMI, the Centre had told the court that SIMI activists were also “extending full support to extremists and terrorists in J&K and Punjab”.