Bhima Koregaon Violence Case: Professor Hany Babu Withdraws Bail Plea After Supreme Court's Nod

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Professor Hany Babu, an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case, to withdraw his bail petition on grounds of change in circumstances. His counsel apprised the Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal that he would move the High Court afresh for bail.

Citing the same reason, Umar Khalid, an accused in the Delhi riots case, recently withdrew his bail plea from the same bench. The Delhi University professor was arrested in July 2020 on charges of being a member of the CPI(Maoist) and being involved in a conspiracy to attack Prime Minister Modi.

In September 2023, the Bombay High Court had refused to grant him bail, leading to the present appeal before the top court. It held that Babu's alleged offences were serious in nature and he was an "expert" in setting up code structure vital for secret communication. The High Court noted that Babu appeared to be involved in "mass mobilisation" and "party building" with a larger objective of CPI(Maoist), a terrorist organisation.

In January 2024, the Apex Court had issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon case for Babu's regular bail plea.