On Thursday, the Supreme Court deferred the bail plea hearing of activist Jyoti Jagtap, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, till July.
The Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti made this decision after considering the matter.
The Bench, despite listing the hearing, expressed inability to conclude the proceedings, leading to adjournment.
Yesterday, a three-judge Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh, and Bela M Trivedi scheduled a discussion for Jyoti Jagtap’s interim bail plea. However, they later rescheduled it for today’s hearing.
The adjournment is significant as the Supreme Court will commence its summer recess starting tomorrow, May 17, and will reconvene on July 8.
Since September 2020, authorities have held Jagtap in custody for her alleged involvement in the 2018 caste-based violence in Bhima Koregaon, Pune. Additionally, they suspect her of having connections to the banned far-left group, the Communist Party of India (Maoists).
Her bail plea challenges a Bombay High Court order that dismissed her earlier application for bail.
Another accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court on 14 May.
However, Navlakha’s bail is contingent upon the payment of Rs.20 lakhs for his house arrest.
Navlakha has been under detention since April 14, 2020. Initially, the Bombay High Court granted him bail.
The Supreme Court lifted the stay on May 14, citing Navlakha’s prolonged incarceration, after initially staying the order for three weeks to allow the NIA to contest it.
The Supreme Court’s decision regarding Navlakha’s bail highlighted concerns over lengthy pre-trial detentions, noting his over four years in custody and the expected duration of the trial.
On April 5, the Supreme Court granted bail to Shoma Sen, another accused who is a former Nagpur University professor.
Authorities arrested Sen on June 6, 2018, and she remained in custody awaiting trial.
The Court cited Sen’s advanced age, health issues, prolonged detention, delayed trial commencement, and the nature of accusations in granting bail.
Jyoti Jagtap’s case has drawn attention due to the broader context of the Bhima Koregaon violence, which erupted during the commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima.
In February 2022, a special NIA court rejected Jagtap’s bail plea, a decision upheld by the Bombay High Court in October.
The High Court deemed NIA’s contentions regarding Jagtap’s involvement in a larger conspiracy to be prima facie.
The court cited her association with Kabir Kala Manch and alleged incitement of hatred against the democratically elected government during the Elgar Parishad event.
The High Court’s ruling emphasized the presence of a broader conspiracy orchestrated by CPI (Maoist) to overthrow the government, with Jagtap and co-accused allegedly playing an active role in furthering this agenda.
As Jagtap’s bail plea remains deferred until July, the legal proceedings surrounding the Bhima Koregaon case continue to unfold, shedding light on broader issues of dissent, activism, and state response in India.
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