6-week interim bail to Elgar Parishad accused
The Supreme Court granted Mahesh Raut six-week interim bail for medical treatment, despite NIA's opposition over his alleged Maoist links.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a six-week interim bail to Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case accused Mahesh Raut on medical grounds. Raut is accused of transferring funds to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist).
A bench of justices MM Sundresh and SC Sharma passed the order on an application moved by Raut, who sought interim bail to undergo treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The plea also challenged his incarceration despite being granted bail by Bombay high court in 2023.
Opposing the bail application, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), represented by advocate Zoheb Hossain, said: “The court may consider his serious role. He was transferring funds to the Maoists.”
The bench, however, observed: “Maoists are already gone now. They are now in their last leg.”
Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing for Raut, submitted that the petitioner was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and needed specialised medical care unavailable in prison or at JJ Hospital, where he has been examined. Singh further said that despite getting bail from the high court in September 2023, his release has been stayed for almost two years by the apex court in an interim order passed on NIA’s appeal challenging the bail.
The bench noted his medical condition and the fact that he was already granted bail by the high court and proceeded to grant him bail for six weeks.
Raut was arrested in June 2018 in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence that claimed one life in Maharashtra on January 1, 2018. NIA has alleged that the violence was instigated at the instance of the CPI (Maoist) and booked Raut, who is lodged in Taloja jail, for offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
On September 21, 2023, the high court allowed Raut’s bail plea but stayed its own order for a week on the request of NIA. The apex court has been extending the stay on his release on NIA’s request from time to resulting.
The court also took up the bail plea of another accused in the case, Jyoti Jagtap, and adjourned the matter to October.
