From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI:A realisation dawned on the Supreme Court on Thursday while dealing with petition of accused Vernon Gonsalves that 12 of 13 accused in the 2017 Elgar Parishad case of Pune are languishing in jails since 2018 or 2020, without a trial, as it directed the NIA trial court to frame the charges and hear their pleas for discharged within three months.
A Bench of Chief Justice-designate Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat rejected Gonsalves’ bail since he was also convicted earlier in a 2011 case also under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act while rejecting the plea of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for delay since four of the 20 accused are yet to be nabbed. It said these four be declared proclaimed offenders and let the Bhima Koregao case trial begin without any further delay.
“In normal circumstances, we give benefit of doubt to the first time ofenders. But in your case, you have been convicted under UAPA. That means you are part of a banned organisation. This finding is not by the police, but by a judicial authority,” the Bench said.
The case relates to the alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave at Shaniwarwada in Pune on Decembre 31, 2017, which police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city’s outskirts. The Pune Police, which probed the case before its transfer to NIA had claimed the conclave was backed by the Maoists belonging to the banned terror outfit CPI(Maoist).
The accused in the case have been charged with waging a war against the nation, allegedly planning to kill Prime Minister Modi, being active members of the banned terror outfit CPI (Maoist), criminal conspiracy, and indulging in acts with an intent to strike terror in the minds of people using explosive substances. They were charged with various provisions of UAPA and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Of the 16 persons arrested from different parts of the country, 82-year old Telugu poet Varavara Rao from Hyderabad was granted medical bail by the top court only on August 10 while Delhi’s advocate Sudha Bharadwaj was granted the default bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2021. Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, 83, who was arrested in October 2020, died in the judicial custody on July 5, 2021.
Activist journalist Gautam Navlakha (72) was arrested in the case in August 2018 and currently lodged in the Anda Cell (high security barracks) in solitary confinement since October 2021.
Delhi University’s crippled associate professor Hany Babu was arrested in July 2020. His bail plea is pending before the Bombay High Court. The NIA dubbed him as a co-conspirator propagating the Maoist ideology.
Other accused persons are: activist Sudhir Dhawale, who was the first to be arrested in June 2018. Last month, a special NIA court rejected his bail plea. Rona Wilson, arrested from his home in Delhi the same month, is described as one of the top brass of urban Moists. His bail plea was also rejected by the same court last month.
Mumbai-based lawyer Surendra Gading is accused of being an active member of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit. The NIA has charged him with guiding the violence at Koregaon Bhima in Pune. His bail plea was also rejected last month by the Special Court. The same court also rejected the bail plea of Prof. Shoma Sen arrested in June 2018 and lodged in Mumbai’s Byculla women’s prison. Another activist Mahesh Raut, whose bail plea was also rejected by the same court, is accused of recruiting students for the Naxalite movement.
Social activist and lawyer Arun Ferreira, arrested in August 2018, is accused of taking active part in the Moist movement. Anand Teltumbde, a scholar, surrendered to NIA in April 2020 after failing to get an anticipatory bail from the Supreme Court. Others arrested are: Sagar Gorkhe, a singer and anti-cast activist, Ramesh Gaichor is accused of organising the Elgar Parishad meeting along with Gorkhe.
Jyoti Jagtap, a member of the Kabir Kala Manch, was arrested in September 2020 on the charge of propagating Naxalite activities and Maoist ideology. She is presently lodged at the Byculla women’s prison in Mumbai.
