Bhima Koregaon Case : Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Mahesh Raut On Medical Grounds For 6 Weeks

The Supreme Court today(September 16) granted interim bail on medical grounds for a period of 6 weeks to Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case accused Mahesh Raut, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, over alleged Maoist links. He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2018.A bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Satish Kumar Sharma granted bail after Senior Advocate CU Singh mentioned that Raut suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is an autoimmune disorder which attacks the bones and muscles. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju (for the NIA) was not present, but another counsel on NIA's behalf opposed the plea, stating that the allegations against him are serious as he is accused of transferring funds to Maoists. Singh responded that Raut was granted bail on merits by the Bombay High Court on September 21, 2023, but the High Court had stayed the order for a week for the National Investigation Authority (NIA) to file an appeal. Subsequently, the NIA filed an appeal before the Court, which was admitted by a bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi, which also extended one week's stay granted by the High Court till October 5, 2023. Since then, the stay has been extended from time to time.Justice Sundresh said the Court is inclined to grant bail on medical grounds. The Court ordered: "The applicant 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."The plea of co-accused Jyoti Jagtap was also mentioned by Senior Advocate Aparna Bhat. Bhat said that the case has been pending for the last six to seven years. The court said that it will take it up in October. Jyoti Jagtap, an activist and member of the cultural organisation 'Kala Kabir Manch', and 16 others were accused by the NIA of being responsible for the caste violence at Bhima Koregaon in Pune. The Pune police (and later NIA) contended that inflammatory speeches at Elgar Parishad – an event to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima – triggered the violent clashes that broke out between Maratha and Dalit groups near the village of Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra. This led to the arrest of 16 activists for allegedly conspiring and planning the violence. They were charged with various provisions of the UAPA based on letters and emails primarily retrieved from their electronic devices.In February, 2022, a special NIA court rejected Jagtap's bail application, which was later upheld by the Bombay High Court in October. While rejecting her application, a division bench of the high court observed that dialogues in Kabir Kala Manch's plays that ridiculed words/phrases like 'Ram Mandir', 'Gomutra', and 'Acche Din' – aimed at the democratically elected government – incited hatred and indicated a larger conspiracy. Case Details: THE NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY v MAHESH SITARAM RAUT AND ANR.|Crl.A. No. 3048/2023Click Here To Read/Download Order

Bhima Koregaon Case : Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Mahesh Raut On Medical Grounds For 6 Weeks

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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