SC adjourns bail pleas of Surendra Gadling, Jyoti Jagtap in Bhima Koregaon case

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the bail petitions of lawyer Surendra Gadling and activist Jyoti Jagtap in the Bhima Koregaon case, Live Law reported.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal also deferred the National Investigation Agency’s appeal against the bail granted to their co-accused Mahesh Raut.

They were among 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.

Raut was granted bail on September 21, 2023, after the Bombay High Court found no material evidence supporting the allegations against him. However, the Supreme Court stayed the order based on the National Investigation Agency’s claim that Raut had links to banned Maoist outfits.

During the hearing, advocate Anand Grover, representing Gadling, said his client was a lawyer who represented the “so-called Maoists”. In response, Justice Bindal remarked that Gadling was “not just representing but doing many other things”.

Gadling denied the allegations, but Bindal said the court was only considering the accusations at this stage.

Bindal also claimed that Gadling was delaying the trial. Grover refuted this, stating that only the Section 207 Code of Criminal Procedure proceedings were ongoing and sought time to provide records. Section 207 of the code…

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