Evidence not enough to implicate Sudha Bharadwaj: Defence

Mumbai: Bhima-Koregaon violence accused Sudha Bharadwaj’s counsel on Thursday argued before the court that six documents and one witness were not enough to accuse her of terrorist activities.

He contended that since she had been in jail for one year, she should be released on bail.

A single bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal was hearing the bail application filed by co-accused Vernon Gonsalves and Bharadwaj.

Her counsel, Yug Chowdhary, argued that the letters which had been seized from co-accused Rona Wilson and Surendra Gadling had no evidentiary value as they had not been written or signed by Bharadwaj, and were also not found in Bharadwaj’s possession.

He said according to the Evidence Act, authorship and truth of the letters had to be proved. However, the same was difficult to prove in case of these letters.

Citing flaws in the lower court’s order, advocate Chowdhary brought to the notice of the court that the special Pune court had only considered the prosecution’s arguments while rejecting the bail plea.

He submitted that there were no chances of tampering with the evidence by the accused as she was a 65-year-old lady suffering from arthritis, acute joint pain and diabetes.

Mr Chowdhary told the court that she was a professor in the Delhi School of Law and had spent her life for the poor and needy.

While requesting the court to grant bail, advocate Chowdhary said there was no prima facie case made out against her and hence, she was entitled to bail.

Bharadwaj was arrested by the Pune police and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in September last year in connection with the violence that followed an event to commemorate the Battle of Bhima-Koregaon on December 31, 2017.