PNS|New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, noting that they have been in custody for five years.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia said Gonsalves and Ferreira shall not leave Maharashtra without the trial court’s permission and surrender their passports.
“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.
Imposing a number of conditions, the apex court directed the two activists to use one mobile phone each and let the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, know their addresses.
The apex court also directed that the mobile phones of the activists should be charged and active round-the-clock.
“They shall keep location status of their mobile phones active 24 hours a day and their phone shall be paired with NIA’s IO to enable him to identify their exact location any time. They shall also report to the investigating officer once a week,” the bench said.
It also granted liberty to the NIA to seek cancellation of their bail if there is any violation of the bail conditions.
The activists had moved the top court against a Bombay High Court order rejecting their bail pleas.
The case pertains to the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 which, according to the Pune police, was funded by Maoists.
The inflammatory speeches made there led to violence at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune the next day, police had alleged.
The activists had challenged a December 1, 2021 order passed by a high court bench that granted default bail to lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, a co-accused in the case, but the same relief to eight other accused.
