E-Paper
Supreme Court denies bail to Bhima Koregaon accused, asks NIA to begin trial
The Supreme Court on Thursday denied bail to an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case and directed the National Investigation Agency to begin its trial in the 2018 violence even as the probe agency claimed not all the accused have been arrested.
The Supreme Court on Thursday denied bail to an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case and directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to begin its trial in the 2018 violence even as the probe agency claimed not all the accused have been arrested.
According to the NIA, 16 of 20 accused people have been arrested so far.
The top court ordered the counter-terrorist task force to begin the trial against those arrested and initiate steps to declare those absconding as proclaimed offenders.
A bench of justices Uday Umesh Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat passed the directives while hearing the bail petitioner of Vernon Gonsalves, who pointed out that he has been in jail since August 28, 2018 and with the trial yet to begin, he should be let out of jail just like other accused in the case.
On August 10, the top court had granted bail to another accused, P Varavara Rao, on medical grounds. Another accused, Sudha Bharadwaj got bail in December.
The bench on Thursday dismissed Gonsalves’s plea, noting that his case was not similar to that of other accused as he already stood convicted in a 2011 case under the stringent provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
“You are not strictly an innocent person. So, you cannot be counted with someone who can be given the benefit of doubt,” the bench said.
“In normal circumstances, we give benefit of doubt to first time offenders. In your case, you have been convicted under UAPA. That means you are part of a banned organisation. This finding is not by the police but by a judicial authority,” it added.
The top court, however, asked the petitioner to wait for three months, by when, the special NIA court in Greater Mumbai would decide whether charges need to be framed against the petitioner.
The Bhima Koregaon case pertains to alleged inflammatory speeches made at an Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017 which, police claimed, triggered violence the next day near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
Gonsalves was arrested on August 28, 2018, over alleged links with banned terrorist outfit, the Communist Party of India (Maoist), according to the NIA. He is facing charges under various provisions of Indian Penal Code and UAPA and is lodged in Taloja prison.
Appearing for the NIA, additional solicitor general (ASG) S V Raju informed the top court that 16 people were so far arrested on the basis of evidence pointing out their alleged links with CPI(Maoist).
Of the 16, Father Stan Swamy died in custody last year, he said. Swamy died amid his fight for bail on health grounds.
The NIA is unable to begin its trial in the case as four people are still absconding and those arrested have filed several applications seeking their discharge from the case, the ASG said.
Noting the ASG’s submission, the bench said: “The respondent (NIA) shall take appropriate steps either to get the trial segregated against the arrested accused and/or pray for declaration under section 82 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).”
Section 82 allows the trial court to declare an absconding person as a “proclaimed offender”.
ASG Raju told the bench that he has already advised the public prosecutor to initiate proceedings to declare those absconding as “proclaimed offenders”.
Opposing Gonsalves’s bail plea, the NIA’s counsel alleged the accused was continuing with unlawful activities from inside the prison despite being convicted by a sessions court in Nagpur in 2011 for being a member of an unlawful association (section 10 of UAPA) and abetting or aiding commission of an unlawful activity (section 13 of UAPA).
In this (2011) case, he was even sentenced to three years and five years of rigorous imprisonment, Raju said.
Gonsalves’s counsel and senior advocate Rebecca John, however, claimed the NIA had failed to establish the accused’s role in the 2018 violence or implicate him in any manner under the UAPA.
“The NIA is contemplating segregating the trial to see if the trial is not affected. In case they don’t, we will take up your bail plea after three months,” the bench said.
“The trial court shall consider the matter whether charges be required to be framed against the accused. As some accused have preferred discharge applications, same be also heard simultaneously. Let the entire exercise be undertaken in three months,” it added.
