Supreme Court yet to frame charges against 16 accused

Mumbai: With the Supreme Court stipulating that charges in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case be framed within the next three months, the focus has shifted now to the status of the accused.

In the case that is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), of the total 16 arrested accused, Jesuit priest Stan Swamy died at a private hospital here last year during judicial custody, while Telugu poet Varavara Rao is currently out on medical bail.

Only one accused, Sudha Bharadwaj is out on regular bail, which was granted to her by the Bombay High Court in December last year, while 13 other accused are currently lodged in different jails.

The accused in the case have been charged for waging a war against the nation, being active members of the banned terror outfit CPI (Maoist), criminal conspiracy and indulging in acts with an intent to strike terror in the minds of people using explosive substances.

The NIA in its draft charges sought to charge the accused under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court is yet to frame charges in the case, only after which trial would commence.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon- Bhima war memorial located on the city's outskirts. The Pune Police, which probed the case before it was transferred to the NIA, claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists.

Activist Sudhir Dhawale was one of the first people to be arrested in the case in June 2018. He is presently lodged at the Taloja prison and has been accused of being an active member of the terror outfit. In July this year, a special NIA court had rejected his bail plea.

Activist Rona Wilson was arrested in June 2018 from his home in Delhi and has been in jail since then. He has been described as one of the top brass of urban Maoists. His bail plea was rejected by the special court in July 2022. Wilson was granted temporary bail for 14 days by the special NIA court in September 2021 to attend a mass organised for the 30th day ritual following his father's death. He surrendered at the end of the 14-day period.

Activist Mahesh Raut is accused of spreading Maoist ideology and attempting to recruit students to join the Naxalite movement. It is alleged by the NIA that Raut had passed on Rs 5 lakh to the co-accused in the case for the Elgar Parishad event. He was arrested in 2018 and is still behind bars. His default bail plea was rejected by the special court this year.

Eighty-two-year-old Telegu poet Varavara Rao was granted medical bail by the Supreme Court on August 10, 2022. Last year, the Bombay High Court had granted him temporary bail on medical grounds. He was arrested in August 2018 and was in jail till February 2021 when HC granted him temporary bail. He is accused of being a senior and active member of the banned group.

Vernon Gonsalves was arrested in the case in August 2018 and is presently lodged at the Taloja prison. His bail plea was rejected by both the special court and the high court following which he approached the Supreme Court seeking bail.

Activist Sudha Bharadwaj is the only accused in the case who is out on default bail that was granted to her by the Bombay High Court in December 2021. She was arrested in August 2018 and was in jail till December 2021 when she was released on bail. As per NIA, Bharadwaj was an active member of CPI (Maoist).

Anand Teltumbde, an activist and scholar, was arrested by the NIA in April 2020 after he surrendered following no relief of anticipatory bail from the Supreme Court. He is presently lodged at the Taloja prison and his bail plea has been rejected by the special court.

Seventy-year-old activist Gautam Navlakha was arrested in the case in August 2018 and has been lodged at the Taloja prison since then. In October 2021, he was shifted to the Anda Cell (high security barracks) and has been kept in solitary confinement since then, his partner Sahba Husain had claimed.