The bail pleas of four accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018, which is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency, were denied by a Special Court in Maharashtra on Monday (NIA).
Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, and associate professor at Delhi University Hany Babu had their bail pleas denied by Special NIA Judge DE Kothalikar.
The NIA detained members of the purportedly outlawed organisation Kabir Kala Manch, as well as Babu, in 2020.
For allegedly conducting incendiary acts and statements at the Elgar Parishad event, which led to rioting at the Bhima Koregaon event, they were charged with sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code and terrorist activities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Last year, the four defendants requested regular bail in their bail applications.
The FIR had been delayed for eight days, according to Jagtap.
She claimed that because her role was limited to the Elgar Parishad event, she had not been arrested by the Pune police, who were investigating the case before the NIA took over.
She went on to say that the NIA had failed to produce any new evidence against her.
In their respective submissions, Gaichor and Gorkhe argued that the NIA had no evidence that the applicants were not working with the inquiry.
They claimed that they had been in detention since 2020, that a chargesheet had been filed against them, and that there was no need to keep them in custody in this matter.
Their lawyers maintained that the NIA had failed to establish that the remarks were critical of India, or that they called for an armed insurrection or any action against the Indian government.
Meanwhile, Babu claimed that he was not a member of any organisation; yet, if this were true, he could face a 10-year prison sentence, and he had already been detained for nearly a year.
The bail applications were contested by the NIA. It was stated that further inquiry should have been done before pointing out the fresh ground. It was submitted that no such new ground had arisen thus far.
It was also said that there was enough evidence on record to substantiate the charges against the accused and that they did not deserve mercy.
On Monday, the Special Court denied their bail applications after hearing all of their arguments in detail.
A few things happened in the NIA Court before the bail orders were issued.
NIA informed the Court that the wanted to be accused, Milind Teltumbde, had passed away in an encounter which took place in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra last year;
The agency also sought the production of another wanted to be accused, Prashant Bose, who is presently detained in Jharkhand. Bose was arraigned as wanted to be accused by Pune Police;
Gautam Navlakha, a co-accused in the case, moved for a regular bail application, which will be heard on March 1, 2022.