The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Mahesh Raut an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case but stayed it for one week on the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) request.
A Division Bench of justices A.S. Gadkari and Sharmila Deshmukh was hearing a bail plea filed by Mr. Raut, 35, who is in Taloja Central Jail after the NIA court had rejected his bail. He was arrested from his house at Nagpur on June 6, 2018 on charges of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The court held Mr. Raut has been charged with several Sections of the UAPA which are not applicable to him. The detailed order has not been made available, yet.
Senior advocate Mihir Desai appearing for Mr. Raut had argued that he be released on bail on the grounds of parity as some accused in the case were on bail. He also mentioned that it would take time for the trial to start and Mr. Raut has been in jail for five years.
However, NIA’s counsel, additional solicitor general Devang Vyas, opposed the bail and said there was enough evidence against Mr. Raut to show there was a larger conspiracy to “wage war against the country” and that should be considered. He contended Mr. Raut had links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
So far, other accused Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira are out on bail. Varavara Rao is on medical bail and Gautam Navlakha is in house arrest.
Mr. Raut was selected for the prestigious Prime Minister Rural Development fellowship programme in 2013 and was allocated to work with the District Collector, Gadchiroli. During this fellowship, he took on the work of implementation of the Panchayati Raj Extended to Scheduled Areas and Forest Rights Act, and with the help of the District Collector, was successful in liaising between the locals and the government.
On January 1, 1818, Peshwas army, which had several Mahars, won a battle against the British Army. To honour the gallantry of the Mahars, a monument ‘Vijay Stambh’ was built. On January 1, 1927, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar visited the site and started an annual tradition to celebrate the occasion. On December 31, 2017, a public meeting Elgar Parishad was organised and the next day many Dalits and Bahujans gathered, however they were attacked by a mob which resulted in the death of a 30-year-old Maratha man. On January 2, 2018, a local resident Anita Sawale filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Hindu extremist leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide. Subsequently 22 FIRs were registered in the case and one of them named Mr. Raut.
