Won’t depose before commission: Surendra Gadling

Pune: Advocate Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, on Friday appeared before the commission of enquiry, which is probing the matter, and said that he did not want to depose as a witness at this stage as it would prejudice his case before the trial court.

The commission, headed by retired Justice J.N. Patel, is looking into the sequence of the events that led to the violence in Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018.

Earlier, Mr Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale, another accused in the case, had filed applications before the commission seeking permission to depose as witnesses. The police had arrested them in June 2018 and they are currently lodged at Yerawada Central Jail, Pune. The commission had issued summons last month and had asked Mr Gadling to appear as a witness on September 6, while Mr Dhawale was asked to depose before it on September 7.

Mr Gadling was produced before the commission amid heavy police security around 11.45 am on Friday. However, his lawyer submitted an application, saying that he was withdrawing his willingness to be examined by the panel because of certain circumstances. The commission allowed Mr Gadling’s plea and discharged him from deposing.

The commission also initiated the process to determine if Mr Dhawale was willing to depose on Saturday or he had also changed his mind.

Mr Gadling and Mr Dhawale are among the 23 persons booked by the Pune city police for their alleged links with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). The police has alleged that the Elgar Parishad — an event to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima — was organised at Pune’s Shaniwar Wada on December 31, 2017, at the behest of Maoists. The police has also alleged that speeches at the event and “provocative previous campaigns” aggravated the violence in Bhima-Koregaon on January 1.