Activists Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira get bail in Bhima Koregaon case from SC

New Delhi: Observing that the gravity of the allegations alone cannot be the sole reason to deny bail, the Supreme Court has granted bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, who have been in custody after being charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.

Gonsalves and Ferreira had been confined to Mumbai's Taloja jail since 2018 and had approached the apex court seeking bail after the Bombay High Court rejected their pleas. They argued that their co-accused, Sudha Bharadwaj, had been granted bail by the Bombay HC, raising questions about the disparate treatment.

While the bail has been granted, the court imposed certain conditions on the two activists. They are not permitted to leave the state of Maharashtra without obtaining permission from the trial court. Additionally, they must surrender their passports to the investigating officer of the National Investigation Agency. The court also imposed restrictions on their place of residence and the use of mobile phones, among other conditions.

The Bhima Koregaon case is rooted in a conference held at Pune's Shaniwar Wada to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon-Bhima, which resulted in violence leading to the death of a young man and injuries to several others.

The arrests of Gonsalves and Ferreira, along with Sudha Bharadwaj, P Vara Vara Rao, and Gautam Navlakha, followed several months later, with all of them initially placed under house arrest as directed by the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government granted an extension to the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry earlier this month. The commission, headed by retired High Court judge Justice J N Patel, and with former chief secretary Sumit Mallick as the second member, was established by the state government in February 2018 with the objective of investigating the root causes of the violence.