SC reserves verdict on arrest of 5 activists in Koregaon-Bhima case

The bench asked the Maharashtra police to file their case diary pertaining to the ongoing investigation in the case by September 24.

The Supreme Court Thursday reserved its verdict on a plea by historian Romila Thapar and others seeking the immediate release of five rights activists in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case and an SIT probe into their arrest.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, reserved the judgment after counsel for both parties including senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Harish Salve and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta concluded their submissions.

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khaniwlkar and D Y Chandrachud, asked the Maharashtra police to file their case diary pertaining to the ongoing investigation in the case by September 24. It also asked the parties to file their written submissions by then.

The five activists --Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha-- are under arrest at their respective homes since August 29.

The plea by Thapar and economists Prabhat Patnaik and Devaki Jain, sociology professor Satish Deshpande and human rights lawyer Maja Daruwala has sought an independent probe into the arrests and the immediate release of the five activists.

The Maharashtra police had arrested the rights activists on August 28 in connection with an FIR lodged following a conclave -- 'Elgaar Parishad' -- held on December 31 last year that had later triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.

The apex court had said on September 19 that it would look into the case with a hawk's eye as liberty cannot be "sacrificed at the altar of conjectures".

It had told the Maharashtra government that there should be a clear-cut distinction between opposition and dissent on one hand and attempts to create disturbance, law and order problems or overthrow the government on the other.

ALSO READ: SC extends house arrest of activists in Bhima-Koregaon case till Sept 19

Senior advocate Anand Grover, Ashwini Kumar and advocate Prashant Bhushan also alleged that the entire case was cooked up and adequate safeguards should be provided to protect the liberty of five activists.

The apex court had earlier said that it may order an SIT probe if it found that the evidence has been "cooked up".

Article Source Business Standard

Bhima-Koregaon violence: SC extends house arrest of 5 activists till Sep 17

The court adjourned the hearing after it was submitted that senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing the petitioners, was busy in another court.

The Supreme Court Wednesday extended the house arrest of five rights activists who were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case till September 17.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud adjourned the hearing on the plea filed by historian Romila Thapar and four others to September 17 after it was submitted that senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing the petitioners, was busy in another court.

Earlier, Singhvi appeared before the bench and submitted that the hearing on Thapar's plea be conducted after 12 pm as he has to appear in another matter.

The court was hearing the plea filed against the arrest of the rights activists -- Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha -- in the case.

The Maharashtra police had arrested the five activists on August 28 in connection with an FIR lodged following a conclave -- 'Elgaar Parishad' -- held on December 31 last year that had later triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.

ALSO READ: Letter 'concocted' to criminalise me: Sudha Bharadwaj on Koregaon arrests

On August 29, the apex court ordered the house arrest of the activists, saying "dissent is the safety valve of democracy".

Article Source BS

Bhima Koregaon case: Police searches houses of activists for Maoist links

The raids were carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following an event held in Pune last year, a senior police officer says.

Bhima Koregaon Violence : Pune Police on Tuesday conducted searches at the residences of prominent activists across the country for their suspected Maoist links, a senior police officer said.

The raids were carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following an event held in Pune last year, he said.

Searches are being carried out at the homes of Left wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha, who lives in Delhi, he said.

Rao's name had cropped up in a letter seized by the police during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad event on December 31 last year to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon Bhima battle in 1818.

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon Bhima village in the district, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids in June.

Police said probes were being conducted at homes of the five arrested and those who were directly or indirectly connected with them.

Article Source BS