Bhima-Koregaon: Bail for 2 activists after 5 yrs

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, ending their nearly five-year-long incarceration on charges of alleged Maoist links in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case.

- Abraham Thomas

A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that despite the serious charges, the material produced by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was not strong enough to justify the continued detention of the two men.

“Considering the fact that almost five years have elapsed, we are satisfied they have made out a case for bail. The allegations are serious, no doubt, but for that reason alone, bail cannot be denied to them,” the bench said, setting aside a 2019 Bombay high court denying them bail.

The top court asked Gonsalves and Ferreira to not leave Maharashtra, surrender their passports, use only one mobile phone and keep it charged through the day, share location and pair their devices with the investigating officer, give their addresses to NIA, and be present in the local police station once a week. Violation of any of these conditions, or those imposed by a special NIA court, would entitle the federal agency to seek cancellation of bail, the court said.

“There is nothing against the appellants to prima facie establish that they had indulged in the activities which would constitute overawing any public functionary by means of criminal force or the show of criminal force or attempts by the appellants to do so. Neither were they found to have caused death of any public functionary,” the order added.