Elgar Parishad case: Bombay High Court rejects bail pleas of 5 accused

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The Bombay High Court (HC) on Friday rejected the pleas for default bail or bail on technical grounds filed by five people accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case.

A division bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Shyam Chandak rejected the applications filed by Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawade, and Rona Wilson.

The detailed order is awaited.

Gadling originally filed an application for default bail in 2018 in the sessions court when the Pune Police were investigating the case.

The application termed the 90-day extension granted by the sessions court to the police for filing a charge sheet as "illegal", and hence, the accused were entitled to bail under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

In his petition before, Gadling claimed that the special court did not consider the fact that the Pune court had "no jurisdiction to extend the time for completion of the investigation".

Sixteen persons were arrested in the case, including Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, who died in a private hospital while in judicial custody.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in the district during the bicentenary celebrations of the Bhima Koregaon battle. One person died in the violence while several others were injured.

The Pune Police also claimed that Maoists backed the conclave. The probe was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

(With PTI inputs)