Bail for Bhima Koregaon accused highlights extraordinary delay in trial

Activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale walked out of prison on Friday after being under incarceration for six and a half years in the Bhima Koregaon case.

The Bombay High Court granted them bail on January 8 on grounds that they had spent a long period in jail without trial or even charges being framed against them. Prolonged detention without trial is violative of the rights of an accused under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Wilson and Dhawale are among the 16 academicians, activists and lawyers who were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for their alleged role in instigating caste violence at Bhima Koregaon near Pune in January 2018. They were also accused of having links with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

While seven other accused have previously been granted bail by the court, Wilson and Dhawale are the first to receive bail on grounds of delayed trial, shining a spotlight on the extraordinary lag in the case.

Proceedings in the case so far indicate that the prosecution is responsible for the delay. It has filed several chargesheets in the case and failed to provide the defence lawyers with replicas of digital devices used as evidence against the accused. This has slowed down the process of the accused…

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