Bhima-Koregaon: Arrested lawyer's wife moves SC

A plea was filed on Friday in the Supreme Court by the wife of lawyer Surendra Gadling, arrested in connection with Bhima-Koregaon violence in Maharashtra, to intervene in a writ petition filed by historian Romila Thapar.

Minal Gadling, in her petition, contended the arrest of five persons, including her husband, in June was mala fide as there was no involvement on their part in any Maoist-related activity.

Besides Gadling, Head of English Department of Nagpur University Shoma Sen, Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, activist Mahesh Raut and Kerala native Rona Wilson were arrested for suspected links with Maoists.

"All the five persons hold a significant position in society and have dedicated their lives for fighting social injustices. They are being targeted for being the voice of dissent, and for taking up battles against forces perpetrating injustice," the plea said.

She claimed her husband was harassed inside the jail and as a result, he had to be admitted to a hospital.

House arrest

On a plea by Thapar, the apex court had on August 29 ordered that five human rights activists arrested a day before in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, be kept under house arrest till September 6. The court observed that dissent was the "safety valve" of democracy.

On August 28, prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao, activists Vernon Gonzalves, Arun Ferreira, trade union activist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj and civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha were arrested by Pune police in connection with an FIR lodged there following an event - 'Elgaar Parishad' (conclave) - held on December 31 last year that had triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.