Bhima Koregaon case: Bombay HC seeks NIA reply on bail plea of activist Sudha Bharadwaj
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The Bombay High Court on Tuesday instructed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to the bail plea of activist Sudha Bharadwaj (60) by July 3.
A division bench comprising Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar has ordered NIA advocate Sandesh Patil to respond to the matter by filing an affidavit.
Bharadwaj has been in jail since August 28, 2018. She is one of the 16 accused in the Elgar Parishad case. The NIA had booked her under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). She had sought default bail citing that the trial judge was not authorised to take cognisance of the charge sheet filed against her.
The activist is charged for the alleged inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave which took place on December 31, 2017. Pune Police had claimed that her speeches triggered the violence at Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the next day. The police have linked the incident to Maoist influence.
When the charge sheet was filed in February 2019, the judge presiding over the matter was not a special judge designated under NIA to hear cases pertaining to the UAPA. Bharadwaj had submitted documents gathered from the High Court using the TRI to demonstrate that Additional Sessions Judge Kishor Vadane is not authorised to take cognisance of the 1800-page supplementary charge sheet.
Advocate Yug Chaudhry representing Sudha Bharadwaj also challenged the order granted by the same judge in November 2018 which allowed the Pune Police time to file the charge sheet.
Sudha Bharadwaj is known for working in Chattisgarh as a trade unionist, activist, and lawyer for three decades. She is associated with Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakrta Committee).