MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday reserved its order on the bail application of former Delhi University professor Hany Babu, accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon violence case. A division bench of justices Ajay Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Bhosale said the verdict “may take some time” after hearing arguments from both sides.
Babu, 58, an associate professor of language and linguistics at DU and an anti-caste activist, was arrested on July 28, 2020, and has since been lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. He had earlier been denied bail by a special NIA court in 2022, a decision later upheld by the high court. His Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court was withdrawn in May this year, allowing him to move the high court afresh on grounds of “changed circumstances.”
Senior advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhary, representing Babu, argued that his client has spent over five years in custody without trial, with charges yet to be framed and his discharge application pending for two years. He stressed that there is no evidence linking Babu to acts of violence, citing recent bail granted to co-accused Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale due to prolonged delays in the trial. “With 363 witnesses to be examined, the trial is unlikely to begin soon. He is a decorated professor with no criminal antecedents and poses no flight risk,” Chaudhary submitted.
Opposing the plea, additional solicitor-general Anil Singh said prolonged incarceration alone cannot be a ground for bail. He argued that other accused have spent longer periods in custody and reiterated the NIA’s claim that Babu had links with the banned CPI (Maoist), though Babu maintains there is no evidence beyond names allegedly found on his laptop.
{{/usCountry}}Opposing the plea, additional solicitor-general Anil Singh said prolonged incarceration alone cannot be a ground for bail. He argued that other accused have spent longer periods in custody and reiterated the NIA’s claim that Babu had links with the banned CPI (Maoist), though Babu maintains there is no evidence beyond names allegedly found on his laptop.
{{/usCountry}}The high court’s decision is awaited.
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