NIA court rejects pleas to cancel bail of 4 Elgar Parishad case accused

MUMBAI: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Saturday rejected the NIA’s pleas to cancel the bail of four Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case accused -- Telugu poet-activist P Varavara Rao, lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, and activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, for participating in an event at the Mumbai Press Club earlier this year

MUMBAI: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Saturday rejected the NIA’s pleas to cancel the bail of four Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case accused -- Telugu poet-activist P Varavara Rao, lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, and activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, for participating in an event at the Mumbai Press Club earlier this year. The court said there was no evidence to show that the gathering they attended was meant to propagate CPI (Maoist) ideology or advance the “Urban Naxal” movement.

Special Judge Chakor S Baviskar, in four separate orders pronounced on Saturday, said CCTV footage of the January 19 gathering showed the accused and co-accused present but had no audio, making it impossible to establish what they discussed. Also, given the “tempo, temperament and overall mood” of the gathering and the accused’s body language, it could hardly be concluded they discussed the serious issues alleged.

The NIA alleged that the four individuals actively participated in a gathering to propagate CPI (Maoist) ideology and advance the “Urban Naxal” movement. Relying on a Press Club inquiry report and CCTV footage, the agency argued this participation breached bail conditions of a ban on communication with co-accused, and sought their immediate arrest and the cancellation of bail.

The judge also rejected the NIA’s contention that mere presence of the four together violated bail conditions, noting that there was no evidence that they had arranged the gathering or contacted one another for that purpose before or after it. They may naturally have discussed their case or co-accused’s circumstances, but that alone did not establish a breach.

The court nevertheless cautioned all four, stating since they were aware of the bail conditions, they “could and should have” recused themselves on seeing other accused there, to avoid complications and a possible cancellation plea. Those on bail must take care to avoid breaching conditions. Each application was rejected with a cautionary warning.

The NIA had first approached the court in May seeking cancellation of Rao and Bharadwaj’s bail, and moved similar applications against Gonsalves and Ferreira in June.

Rao was granted bail by the Supreme Court in August 2022 on medical grounds; Bharadwaj secured bail from the Bombay high court in December 2021, later upheld by the Supreme Court. Gonsalves and Ferreira, arrested August 2018 and jailed nearly five years, got regular bail from the Supreme Court in July 2023. All were subject to conditions including restrictions on contact with co-accused or people in similar activities.

The case relates to violence near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial in Pune district on January 1, 2018, during the battle’s bicentenary. Investigators allege inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave at Pune’s Shaniwar Wada on December 31, 2017, contributed to the violence and linked it to the banned CPI (Maoist).

The NIA later took over the probe from Pune police.