Elgar-Parishad case: SC to hear activist Jyoti Jagtap's bail plea with NIA's pending petition
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said the bail plea of activist Jyoti Jagtap, who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, would be heard together with a separate pending petition filed by the NIA challenging the bail granted to one of the co-accused. The apex court had in September last year extended the stay granted by the Bombay High Court on the implementation of its verdict granting bail to activist Mahesh Raut, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
The National Investigation Ageny (NIA) has challenged in the top court the September 21, 2023 order of the high court granting bail to Raut, who was arrested in June 2018 in connection with the case. Jagtap's bail plea came up for hearing on Thursday before a bench of justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K M Nataraj, appearing for the NIA, told the bench about the pendency of the probe agency's plea against the bail granted to Raut. "The entire issue will have to be gone into in detail. Kindly consider one aspect. In respect of another accused, one petition is already pending. He was enlarged on bail and that has been stayed by this court," the law officer said.
"We will take both the matters together," the bench observed. It directed the top court registry to take appropriate order to post both the matters together.
"Either that (petition) will come with this or this will go with that," the bench said. The counsel appearing for Jagtap, who was arrested in September 2020, said she has been in custody for almost four years now.
He said a total of 16 persons were arrested in connection with the case, out of which seven were out on bail while one of them had passed away. He referred to the allegations levelled against Jagtap, and said there are 295 witnesses in the case and charges are yet to be framed. The counsel argued that nothing has been recovered from Jagtap during the investigation.
Jagtap has moved the apex court challenging the October 17, 2022 order of the high court that refused to grant her bail, saying the NIA case against her was "prima facie true" and that she was part of a "larger conspiracy" hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit.
The high court had said Jagtap was an active member of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) group, which during its stage play at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 gave not only "aggressive, but highly provocative slogans".
The 2017 Elgar Parishad conclave was held at Shaniwarwada, an 18th-century palace-fort located in the heart of Pune city. Jagtap, accused of singing and raising provocative slogans at the conclave along with other KKM members, was arrested in September 2020 and has been lodged in jail under judicial custody.
According to the investigators, provocative speeches that were allegedly made at the conclave triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima on the outskirts of Pune on January 1, 2018. Jagtap is lodged in jail for alleged offences, including under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.