NEW DELHI: Keeping in view the health condition of the petitioner, Mahesh Raut, accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case over alleged Maoist links, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted him interim bail for a period of 6 weeks.
Raut was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2018. In the top court, Raut's lawyer, Chander Uday Singh, said that he suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the bones and muscles.
He clarified that Raut was earlier granted bail on merits by the Bombay High Court on September 21, 2023, but the HC had stayed the order for a week to enable the National Investigation Authority (NIA) to file an appeal before the apex court. Followingly, the NIA had filed an appeal before the top court, challenging the bail granted to Raut.
Then, the top court in its order in October 2023, granted a stay on the HC order and extended it from time to time till today, as a result of which Raut couldn't be enlarged on bail in the case.
The two-judge Bench, headed by Justice M M Sundresh and Justice Satish Kumar Sharma, on Tuesday allowed the prayers of Singh and granted bail to Raut.
"The applicant (Mahesh Raut) is seeking interim bail on medical grounds, coupled with the fact that he was actually granted bail. We are inclined to grant medical bail for a period of 6 weeks," said the apex court in its order.
Opposing the bail of Raut, lawyer for the NIA -- in the absence of the Additional Solicitor General SV Raju (for the agency) -- submitted that the allegations against him (Raut) are serious as he is accused of transferring funds to Maoists.
In the same case, the SC has decided to hear in October the bail plea of co-accused Jyoti Jagtap seeking bail. Senior Advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for Jagtap, argued that the case has been pending for the last six to seven years.
The HC had rejected Jagtap's bail on the ground that the NIA case against her was "prima facie true" and that she was part of a "larger criminal conspiracy" hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit, and her involvement in the case could not be ruled out.
Jagtap, who is an accused and in jail for her alleged involvement in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, had knocked the doors of the apex court challenging the October 17, 2022, order of the high court dismissing her bail plea.
Further, the HC had found that Jagtap was an active member of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) group, which, during its stage play at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, in the address, made "aggressive and highly provocative slogans".
Another accused, Shoma Sen, is also an undertrial prisoner since June 6, 2018, and is lodged at the Byculla jail in Mumbai for her alleged involvement in the same case.
Jagtap and many other accused persons -- including 14 other activists, academics, and educationists -- are charged by the price agency, NIA, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (UAPA) Act, and other sections for their alleged involvement in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.