A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday rejected the interim bail plea filed on medical grounds of civil activist Sudha Bharadwaj accused in the Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon case.
Bharadwaj through her advocates Yug Mohit Chaudhry and Ragini Ahuja had sought to be enlarged on interim bail as she suffers co-morbidities of diabetes and high blood pressure which make her vulnerable to Coronavirus infection.
The 58-year-old is lodged in Byculla women’s prison. The plea had said that at her age and with her co-morbidities the infection could be life-threatening for Bharadwaj. A 54-year-old jail inmate and a jail doctor at Byculla jail had tested positive for the infection, it said further and cited the High Power Committee’s formed for the urgent release of prisoners whose decision of May 11 allowed those with underlying medical conditions to apply for interim bail.
The NIA had opposed the bail plea in its reply stating that there is no provision for grant of temporary bail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) under which Bharadwaj is charged and that the evidences indicate the link of accused persons with CPI(Maoist).
The agency said further that the guidelines issued by the High Court for the release of prisoners on temporary bail are not applicable to the present case.
Bharadwaj has been in custody since August 2018. She was arrested by the Pune police and has been accused of involvement in the violence that took place at the village of Koregaon-Bhima near Pune on Jan 1, 2018. The police claim the violence was as a result of provocative speeches in the Elgar Parishad conclave held a day earlier at Pune. The case was transferred to the NIA recently.
