NIA court gives temporary bail to Surendra Gadling to attend wedding in Nagpur

MUMBAI: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday granted temporary bail to Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case 2017, from December 25 to January 2 of 2024, to attend a relative’s wedding in Nagpur

MUMBAI: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday granted temporary bail to Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case 2017, from December 25 to January 2 of 2024, to attend a relative’s wedding in Nagpur.

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While granting Gadling bail, special judge R J Katariya noted that the original wedding card of his relative was produced which proved the case. “The applicant (Gadling) shall not leave Nagpur city and there shall not be any prayer for extension of the period of bail in any circumstances,” said the court.

While allowing him temporary bail on humanitarian grounds, the court set strict conditions which include surrendering his passport, reporting to the police station within the limit of his stay in Nagpur at 10 am for three days during his stay, and submitting a detailed itinerary entailing the particulars of his travel from Mumbai to Nagpur.

The court also asked Gadling to furnish sureties of ₹1 lakh and directed him to surrender before the Superintendent of Taloja prison on 3 January 2024 at 11am.

Gadling, a former lawyer, is one of the 15 accused named in the chargesheet filed by the NIA. Gadling was arrested in 2018 on charges of conspiring to foment violence at Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra on January 1, 2018.

He was lodged at Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. Gadling and several other activists were arrested for alleged links with the Maoists and were booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

NIA’s case is that on December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad held an event at Pune’s Shaniwarwada Fort to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle. This was allegedly funded by the banned CPI (M) as a part of a conspiracy to create unrest. Speeches, plays , and music performances revolving around anti-caste and anti-communal themes were staged.

The next day, violence broke out at the war memorial in Bhima Koregaon village in Maharashtra between right-wing groups armed with saffron flags and those who had come to mark the anniversary of the battle.

The police alleged that speeches made at the Elgar Parishad triggered the violence the next day, and the event was backed by Maoists.