Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case: SC grants interim bail to accused Mahesh Raut on health ground

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma was hearing Raut's petition challenging his incarceration despite being granted bail by the Bombay High Court.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Mahesh Raut, an accused in Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case on medical grounds for a period of six weeks.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma granted the relief to Raut, who was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, over his alleged Maoist links.

He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2018.

Senior advocate Chander Uday Singh, appearing for Raut submitted that he suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is an autoimmune disorder which attacks the bones and muscles.

He said that Raut was earlier granted bail on merits by the Bombay High Court on September 21, 2023, but the high court had then stayed the order for a week to enable the NIA to file an appeal before the apex court.

Upon the NIA's appeal, the court had in October 2023 granted stay on the high court's order.

The apex court extended the stay from time to time till today, as a result of which Raut couldn't be enlarged on bail in the case, the counsel said.

The court allowed the plea and granted bail to Raut.

"The court is inclined to grant bail on medical grounds. The applicant (Mahesh Raut) is seeking interim bail on medical grounds coupled with the fact that he was actually granted bail, we are inclined to grant medical bail for a period of six weeks," the bench said.

A counsel for the NIA opposed the plea, contending that the allegations against Raut were serious as he was accused of transferring funds to Maoists.

The top court eventually granted bail to Raut.

The court also decided to hear in October the bail plea of co-accused Jyoti Jagtap in the case.

Senior Advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for Jagtap, submitted that the case has been pending for the last six to seven years.

The high court had rejected Jagtap's bail on the ground that the NIA case against her was "prima facie true" and that she was part of a "larger criminal conspiracy" hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit and her involvement in the case could not be ruled out.

Jagtap challenged the October 17, 2022 order of the high court dismissing her bail plea.

She 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, allegedly made "aggressive, and highly provocative slogans".

Another accused, Shoma Sen, is also an undertrial prisoner since June 6, 2018, and is lodged at the Byculla jail in Mumbai for her alleged involvement in the same case.