Elgar Parishad case: Bail hearings of accused to be heard in Pune court on November 13-14

“The bail plea application of advocate Surendra Gadling will be heard on November 13, while the applications of Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson will be heard on November 14,” said Special Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) Judge KD Vadane. The bail applications were moved by their lawyers. Earlier on Friday, the court had rejected the bail plea of Shoma Sen on grounds that her name had cropped in the police investigations related to her alleged connections with Maoists. The judge in his order stated that prima facie there appeared to be serious charges against all the accused of conspiring and indulging in anti-national activities. The investigation is at a crucial stage and the bail stands rejected, the order stated.

The court also rejected the bail pleas of activists Vernon Gonsalves, advocate Sudha Bharadwaj and Arun Fereira and sent them to police custody till November 6. The court which had decided to hear advocate Gadling’s bail plea on Saturday partially heard the counsels and will now hear it on November 13.

Rona Wilson is accused of having close links with Maoists. (HT Photo)

Gadling had also moved an application before the court stating that he needed books and magazines like ‘Bahishkrut Bharat,’ ‘Muknayak,’ Anand Teltumbde’s ‘The Republic of Caste: Thinking Equality in the Time of Neoliberal Hindutva,’ ‘Samantar,’ ‘Parivartana Vatsaru,’ ‘Dastak,’ ‘Morcha,’ Amrita Pritam’s ‘Rasidi Ticket’, ‘Samrajyavad’ and ‘Jaat.’

The court asked the jailer to verify if the books were banned and accordingly asked the prosecution to file the say before the court. The books and magazines were handed over to jailor by the defence counsel for verification before giving them to Gadling.

Ujjwala Pawar, public prosecutor, said, “The book ‘The Republic of Caste: Thinking Equality in the Time of Neoliberal Hindutva’ was written by Anand Teltumbe, who is an accused in the case and so I will file a say on that book after verification by the jail authorities that whether the book is banned in the country.”

Sudhir Dhawale is one of the accused in the case. (HT photo)

Meanwhile, Raut complained before the court that he was suffering from vomiting and bleeding due to acute gastroenteritis problem from past three weeks and has not been taken for treatment at Sassoon General Hospital. Judge Vadane on hearing the complaint questioned the jailor and, said, “Three weeks have past and Raut has not been taken to the hospital, so will you take a person after he dies.” “Give me a report on the medical condition of Raut at the earliest and I will issue necessary orders,” he added. In a reply, the jailor said that jail authorities do not have an escort to take Raut to hospital.