New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, told Maharashtra authorities to ensure that virtual conferencing facilities function properly during hearings in the 2016 Gadchiroli arson case, after Surendra Gadling’s counsel complained that the video conferencing (VC) system routinely fails when the lawyer-activist is produced before the trial court, reports legal portal livelaw.in.
The bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi was hearing Gadling’s bail plea. Gadling, who has spent six years and 10 months in custody, told the court that he has been unfairly 'branded' only because he appeared as counsel in certain Naxalite cases. The court re-listed the matter for January, granting time to file a reply to an application that is pending before the trial court and asking the trial court to decide it expeditiously.
At the outset, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju informed the bench that the state’s affidavit had been filed. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Gadling, disputed the contents of the affidavit, describing several assertions as “misleading” and “false”. Grover submitted that the prosecution itself had moved an application to defer the trial until the decision in the Bhima Koregaon case, but did not pursue it for nearly three years.
“There are 17 accused. The trial has not been split till today. They say only six are chargesheeted,” he said. He argued that the principal evidence is electronic and overlaps with the Bhima Koregaon case, yet the state had not furnished him copies of the electronic material. He added that the case has been proceeding without a permanent public prosecutor. The senior counsel reiterated that the state withdrew its application to defer the trial only after Gadling moved the Supreme Court.
Raju said an application seeking transfer of records of the Bhima Koregaon case was still pending before the trial court and that Gadling had not yet replied to it. Grover assured the Court that the reply would be filed promptly. The bench then re-listed the matter for January, directing the trial court to decide the pending application. On the issue of repeated VC failures raised by Grover, the Supreme Court asked the State to take immediate steps to ensure that virtual production of the accused proceeds smoothly.
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