Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Elgar Parishad accused activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, citing prolonged incarceration. The two were arrested in 2018 along with 16 others for their alleged role in the conspiracy.
A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata noted that there were over 300 witnesses in the case and the trial was unlikely to commence or conclude in the near future. It said that charges are not yet framed in the case. So far, seven of 16 accused in the case are out on bail. The court has granted them bail on furnishing personal bond of Rs 1 lakh along with sureties of the same amount each.
Wilson and Dhawale, represented by counsels Sudeep Pasbola and Mihir Desai respectively, sought quashing of the chargesheet claiming that charges levelled were based on material that was allegedly planted on electronic devices of the accused.
However, the bench refused to go into the merits of the case and granted them bail citing their long incarceration. The court has directed them not to leave the city without permission from the special NIA court. They have been asked to surrender their passports and provide contact details to the prosecution. Also, they have been directed to report to the NIA office in Mumbai once a week.
Of the 16 accused, 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy, a priest and tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand, passed away in custody in July 2021.
Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen and Gautam Navlakha are out on bail. Although Mahesh Raut has been granted bail, it stayed and the matter is pending in the SC. Meanwhile, the special court, on Monday, granted bail to Raut to appear for law exams.
Whereas, lawyer Surendra Gadling, Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, and cultural artists and activists Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, and Jyoti Jagtap are still incarcerated.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017. The police claimed that it triggered violence the next day near the Bhima-Koregaon war memorial in Pune district. It is also alleged that the conclave was backed by Maoists.
Initially, the case was probed by Pune Police which arrested nine persons. Subsequently, the case was transferred to the NIA in January 2020, which arrested seven others.
