NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday paved the way for the release of 2018 Bhima Koregaon accused Anand Teltumbde by upholding Bombay High Court order granting him bail.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said it will not interfere with the high court order granting bail to Teltumbde.
"We will not interfere," the bench said.
“The SLP (Special Leave Petition) is dismissed. Observations made in the HC order shall not be treated as conclusive findings at the trial,” the bench said in its order.
The bench while dismissing NIAs appeal against HCs November 18 ruling clarified that the trial in the case against Teltumbde would go on without being influenced by HC observations in the bail order.
The high court had on November 18 granted bail to Teltumbde noting prima facie the only case made out against him relates to alleged association with a terror group and the support given to it, for which the maximum punishment is 10 years in jail.
It had also noted there was no evidence to show he was an active member of the banned CPI (Maoist) or had indulged in any terrorist act. The high court had, however, stayed its bail order for a week so the National Investigation Agency could appeal its order in the Supreme Court.
Teltumbde, 73, is the third accused among 16 arrested in the case to be released on bail. Teltumbde has been lodged in Taloja Central Prison since 2020 for his alleged role in Elgar Parishad programme which was held in Shaniwarwada in Pune in December 31, 2017. Violence had erupted in Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018 pursuant to the Parishad event where speakers, singers and other performers had allegedly made provocative speeches.
Poet Varavara Rao is currently out on bail on health grounds, while lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj secured regular bail.
On November 22, the top court had agreed to hear on Friday the anti-terror agency's appeal.
In an attempt to convince the bench, ASG Aishwarya Bhati argued that Teltumbde was “actively” involved in propagating the ideology of CPI(M), which is a proscribed organisation. “Look at larger canvas at which CPI(M) works. If it’s a proscribed terrorist organisation then even assistance or affiliation is also an offence, but he’s actively involved in propagation of ideology, organising, fund transfer etc,” she added.
Defending HCs order granting bail, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal for Mr Teltumbde argued that the HC while discussing letters opined that there was no prima facie evidence to link him with Maoist activity.
“All documents indicated & shown aren’t recovered from me & weren’t even emailed. These are fact finding & academic… This is written by someone else & not me. Threshold under the UAPA act is very high. He wrote about impact of neo liberal globalization on dalits. This is the issue, wherever there is a dalit issue he is there. In process there is some organisation which is closely related to some other org & if I’m an academic & I give speech then that doesn’t make me a terrorist,” Sibal added. It was also his contention that the Dalit rights activist did not even attend the Parishad event.
“I’m estranged from my brother & I haven’t met him for 30 years. Their best case is if someone refers to Anand Teltumbde as dear comrade then he becomes an active member of the CPI (Maoist). HC has dealt with it & they asked HC to deal with it. HC has applied its mind & HC says there is no violation of sections of act,” Sibal had further added.
Teltumbde's brother Milind, a member of the central committee of the CPI (Maoist), was killed in an encounter with security forces in November 2021 in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli.
Anand Teltumbde had claimed he was not present at the December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad event held in Pune city, nor made any provocative speeches.
The prosecution's case was that provocative and inflammatory speeches were made at the event, allegedly backed by the banned CPI (Maoist), which later led to violence at Koregaon Bhima village near Pune.
The accused in the case have been charged with offences relating to waging a war against the nation, being active members of the CPI (Maoist), criminal conspiracy and indulging in acts with an intent to strike terror in the minds of people using explosive substances.
The trial court is yet to frame charges in the case after which the trial will commence.
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(With inputs from PTI)