Sudha Bharadwaj Gets Bail In Bhima Koregaon Case

Sudha Bharadwaj gets bail: Activist Sudha Bharadwaj was granted default bail by the Bombay High Court in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad caste violence case.

The bail was granted by a division bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar who have issued directions for the production of the activist before a special National Investigation Agency court on December 8, so that the terms of her bail can be discussed. The judges had reserved their verdict on Bharadwaj's bail plea after a hearing on August 4.

However, the bench has rejected the bail applications of eight other accused in the case- Sudhir Dawale, Professor Shoma Sen, Dr P Varavara Rao, Rona Wilson, Advocate Surendra Gadling, Arun Ferriera, Mahesh Raut and Vernon Gonsalves.

According to LiveLaw,  Bharadwaj's lawyers had argued during previous hearings that the activist and the other co-accused had been booked for offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which is a 'scheduled offence' under the NIA Act.

However, the case was assigned to Pune's Judge KD Vadane who was not notified as a Special Court under the NIA Act. Following this, the bench had observed that the HC's records were consistent with the documents produced by Bharadwaj's team, using Right to Information regarding Vadane.

Who is Sudha Bharadwaj

Bharadwaj is a lawyer and activist who has worked closely in the Chhatisgarh state as the general secretary of the People’s Union Civil Liberties. In 2018, she was arrested in connection with an incident of caste-based violence that had occurred on January 1 the same year. On the day of the incident, violent clashes had erupted during the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima-Koregaon. It was alleged that Bharadwaj was associated with Elgar Parishad, a gathering that took place on the eve of the anniversary on December 31, 2017.

The activist was booked under sections 505,117,153a and 120 of the Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

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