The Supreme Court has granted bail to activist Shoma Kanti Sen in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. However, Sen has been ordered not to leave Maharashtra without informing the special court during the bail period.
Shoma Sen, a Nagpur-based activist, has been in judicial custody over alleged Maoist links. Shoma Sen was arrested on June 6, 2018, by the Pune City Police along with other activists, including Rona Wilson from Delhi, Sudhir Dhawale from Mumbai, Nagpur-based lawyer Surendra Gadling, and former Prime Minister Rural Development (PMRD) fellow Mahesh Raut.
These arrests were made in connection with an offense related to the Elgar Parishad held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, which allegedly led to violence on January 1 during the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.
Others who got bail in Elgar Parishad case
Late last year, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Gautam Navlakha in the same case. Among the accused, Father Stan Swamy passed away while in judicial custody in July 2021.
In September 2023, the High Court granted bail to Mahesh Raut, but the order was stayed for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to challenge it before the Supreme Court. He has not yet been released as the apex court has continued the stay on his bail from time to time.
In July 2023, the Supreme Court granted bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, noting that they had been in jail as undertrials for almost five years. In November 2022, the High Court granted bail to Teltumbde, and the Supreme Court upheld the order in the same month.
The Supreme Court had granted bail to Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao, another accused, on medical grounds in August 2022, confirming temporary bail granted to him by the High Court in February 2021.
Another accused, lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, got default bail from the High Court in December 2021. The other accused — Sudhir Dhawle, Rona Wilson, Hany Babu, Surendra Gadling, Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe, and Jyoti Jagtap — remain in jail.
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