MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday rejected a bail application of lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Bharadwaj had moved the court seeking bail on medical grounds saying she has morbidities and that could lead to serious problems in case she contracts Covid-19.
Her earlier plea for interim bail, opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), was rejected by a Special Court in Mumbai.
In its affidavit opposing the plea in the High Court, the NIA accused of Bharadwaj of taking "undue benefit" of the situation caused by the pandemic.
While rejecting the application, the bench of Justices RD DHanuka and GV Bisht asserted that the State would cover her medical expenses while she was lodged in prison.
Bharadwaj was arrested in 2018 on charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case. She was initially lodged at the Yerwada Jail in Pune. Later, she has brought to the Byculla jail in Mumbai.
The National Investigation Agency had taken over the case this year.
Bharadwaj is one of several activists whose homes were raided for alleged ties to Maoists, apart from their involvement in the caste-based violence at Bhima Koregaon. They have been charged with inciting violence during the 200th Anniversary of the Battle at Bhima Koregaon fought between the British East India Company and the Peshwas.
Activists Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Anand Teltumbde, and Gautam Navlakha are among those booked for their supposed roles in the incident.