The Supreme Court on May 3 allowed Hany Babu, a Delhi University associate professor and an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, to withdraw his appeal challenging Bombay High Court’s rejection of his bail application.
Appearing before a Bench headed by Justice Bela M. Trivedi, Mr. Babu’s counsel said there has been a “change in circumstances” as other accused in the case have now got bail.
Editorial | On merits: On the Bhima Koregaon violence case
Recently, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Shoma Sen, a former Nagpur University professor, in the case. The accused in the case have been charged with having links with extremist Maoist groups and booked under the draconian Unlaful Activities Prevention Act. Accused activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira too had got bail from the apex court in July 2023.
On Friday, Mr. Babu’s counsel said he would return to the High Court with a plea of parity with his co-accused who have won bail.
The NIA, which is conducting a probe into the case, has accused Babu of being a co-conspirator in propagating Maoist activities and ideology on the instructions of leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation.
Mr. Babu was arrested in July 2020. He is lodged in Taloja Jail.