The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Delhi University professor and academic Hany Babu, who was arrested in 2020 in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. His partner and fellow academic Jenny Rowena confirmed the development.
A division bench comprising Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale passed the order, though the court’s detailed reasoning is still awaited.
Babu was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency in July 2020. Investigators accused him and several other Dalit and Adivasi rights activists of provoking caste-related tensions through speeches delivered on December 31, 2017, which were followed by clashes the next day in Bhima Koregaon and the nearby area of Maharashtra, Maktoob Media reported.
Authorities had also alleged links between the accused and banned Maoist groups, leading to charges under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Babu has been lodged at Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai. In 2021, his family and lawyers had complained that he was not receiving adequate medical care despite suffering from an eye infection and deteriorating eyesight.
Earlier, Jenny Rowena, who also teaches at Delhi University, had said Babu’s prolonged incarceration was unjustified, arguing that he had been kept in prison for years without trial and without any concrete accusations beyond material allegedly taken from his computer during a police raid.
She had also remarked that the case illustrated how anyone working for social causes and refusing to align with the government could be vulnerable to similar action, and said the situation ought to be treated with seriousness and disapproval.