NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court in its order on Monday extended the stay imposed by the Bombay High Court order of December 19, till the next date of hearing, granting bail to accused, Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon case.
A two-judge bench of the Top Court, led by Justice MM Sundresh and also comprising Justice SVN Bhatti, extended the stay and adjourned the matter till the first week of March.
"Taking into consideration the fact that the High Court has already granted stay, the same stands extended till the next date of hearing," the bench said.
The Bombay High Court last December had granted bail to Navlakha but stayed its order for three weeks after the NIA sought time to file an appeal in the apex court.
Navlakha had moved the top court requesting that he be placed under house arrest instead of judicial custody in Taloja jail, Maharashtra.
On November 10, 2022, the top court had allowed Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai's Taloja prison, to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the NIA, had opposed the order of house arrest. He is currently under house arrest in Navi Mumbai.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police claim triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
As many as 16 activists, accused of being associated with the proscribed CPI(Maoist), have been arrested in the case and five of them are currently out on bail.
