Elgaar Parishad Case: Bombay HC Permits Division Bench To Hear Sudha Bharadwaj’s Default Bail Plea

Elgaar Parishad case: On Friday, the Bombay High Court permitted the division bench, to hear the default bail plea of activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj is currently lodged in Byculla women’s prison, for her role in the Elgaar Parishad case. Through her counsel, advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry, Bharadwaj submitted that the chargesheet of the case was not filed within the statutory period of 90 days, hence she was entitled to a default bail as per the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is probing the case at present sought to respond to her plea. In the plea, her advocate said that as the matter is being investigated by the NIA, the case's hearing should be done by the division bench, comprising of two judges. This is in accordance with the scheme given in the NIA Act.

Earlier, a chargesheet against Sudha Bharadwaj was filed by the Pune police in February 2019, but soon, the NIA took over the investigation. Besides that, Chaudhry also argued that the Pune Sessions Court was not competent enough to grant an extension of time to Pune Police to file the chargesheet against Bharadwaj.

Elgaar Parishad case accused allowed to access her medical records

About a month ago, the Bombay High Court, gave Sudha Bharadwaj got clearance for accessing her medical records. “In our view, a prisoner has the right to medical records under Article 21. All medical records, including the tests conducted and medicines prescribed, can be given to the petitioner. We go a step further to say that this order should apply to all prisoners,” said the court.

The court also said that the prisoner should also be allowed to make a phone call to an approved family member.

A week prior to this hearing, Bharadwaj's daughter, Maaysha had claimed that her mother had not received any medical treatment, despite having co-morbidities.