Elgar Parishad Accused Bail And Probe Agency Request To Be Heard Together

Last year in September, the Supreme Court extended the stay granted by the Bombay High Court on the implementation of a verdict granting bail to activist Mahesh Raut, who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. Raut was arrested in June 2018 in connection with the case. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has challenged the high court’s order granting bail to Raut.

The bail plea of another accused, Jagtap, came up for hearing before a bench of justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar. The NIA has filed a plea against the bail granted to Raut. The bench observed that the issue will have to be thoroughly examined and directed the top court registry to post both the matters together.

Jagtap’s counsel argued that she has been in custody for almost four years, and out of a total of 16 persons arrested in connection with the case, seven were out on bail while one had passed away. The counsel highlighted the allegations against Jagtap and emphasized that nothing had been recovered from her during the investigation. Jagtap has moved the apex court challenging the high court’s order that refused to grant her bail, stating that the NIA’s case against her was “prima facie true” and she was part of a “larger conspiracy” hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit.

The high court had mentioned that Jagtap was an active member of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) group, and had been accused of singing and raising provocative slogans at the conclave. The 2017 Elgar Parishad conclave, where Jagtap is accused of singing and raising provocative slogans, was held at Shaniwarwada in Pune. It is alleged that the provocative speeches made at the conclave triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima on the outskirts of Pune on January 1, 2018.

Jagtap is lodged in jail under judicial custody for alleged offences, including under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.