Bombay HC rejects bail plea of Surendra Gadling in Gadchiroli Maoist arson case

The Bombay high court observed that Surendra Gadling was part of a conspiracy for abetting commission of terrorist acts with direct membership of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist)

The Bombay high court on Tuesday rejected the bail application of Nagpur-based lawyer Surendra Gadling in the 2016 Gadchiroli arson case, observing that he was part of a conspiracy for abetting commission of terrorist acts with a direct membership of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Surendra Gadling is also an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case. (File Photo)

Gadling, who is also an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case, has been in prison for around four years now and has been slapped with charges of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. Around 80 vehicles engaged in transporting iron ore from Surjagarh mines in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district were allegedly set on fire by Maoists in December 2016.

Through his counsel Firdos Mirza, he filed an appeal in the Bombay high court under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008, challenging the Gadchiroli sessions court’s verdict of March 28, 2022, refusing to grant him bail.

Rejecting the bail application, a division bench of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court, comprising justices Vijay Joshi and Valmiki Menezes, cited the letters and hard-disk recovered from the home of Gadling and held that he was not just engaged as a lawyer of some of the members of the banned organisation, but was also involved in raising finance, shifting money from one place to other, and providing financial support to its members in the Maoist-hit Gadchiroli district.

The court said there was sufficient evidence that the petitioner had a link with the ultra-leftists, including Milind Teltumbde, a senior Maoist leader who was killed in a police encounter in Gadchiroli district in 2021.

The bench said, “There are direct references of his name in a letter written by ‘comrade Milind’ to the incident at Surjagarh hills in the Naxal-infested district. On a consideration of the totality of the material on record alleged against the petitioner, we find that there is reasonable ground for believing the accusations of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against him.”

“We have considered that there is material on record of the charge sheet that would prima facie lead to the conclusion that the threat posed to the public and the seriousness of the entire conspiracy alleged against the petitioner would far outweigh the other considerations put forth by him, like he is a prominent advocate with a long unblemished record at the bar, that he is the sole breadwinner of his family or that he has not been involved in any earlier crime, would require to be rejected,” the bench added.

The Surjagarh arson case was based on a complaint filed by one Rajvindarsing Harising Shergil, who claimed that the vehicles were set afire after breaking open their diesel tanks, clearly demonstrating the intent of the mob, and the fact that they were acting in concert and with the common intent of terrorising the truck drivers and cleaners.

The Elgar Parishad event organised on December 31, 2017, to commemorate the 200-year battle of Bhima Koregaon, a historical event for Dalit groups, is under investigation for allegedly being organised by banned Naxalite groups. Its attendees are under investigation for their links to terrorism as well as for instigating the violence and rioting that occurred the following day in Pune, which claimed one life and caused widespread destruction of property.