The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a petition before a Mumbai court seeking cancellation of bail granted to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoists link case, on the grounds of alleged violation of bail conditions.
Special Judge Chakor S Baviskar at a special court in Mumbai on Wednesday directed the Bhima Koregaon case accused to file their responses to applications moved by NIA and listed the matter for further hearing on June 19.
The NIA contended that Gonsalves and Ferreira attended a gathering held at the Mumbai Press Club on January 19, where other accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case were also present. According to the agency, their participation in the event amounted to a breach of the conditions imposed while granting them bail.
The agency had earlier filed a similar application seeking cancellation of bail granted to lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj and Telugu poet Varavara Rao on the same allegation. That application remains pending before the court.
During the hearing, the court also allowed applications filed by the NIA seeking issuance of proclamations against two absconding accused, Prakash alias Naveen alias Ritupan Goswami and Ganapathy alias Mupalla Laxman Rao, in accordance with the provisions of criminal law governing proclaimed offenders.
On June 19, the court is scheduled to consider several pending applications, including discharge pleas filed by the accused, requests for modification of bail conditions, applications relating to prison facilities, issues concerning electronic evidence, and petitions seeking permission to travel.
The Bhima Koregaon case pertains to allegations of links with the banned Maoist movement and an alleged larger conspiracy behind the violence that took place near Pune on January 1, 2018. A total of 16 persons were arrested in connection with the case. Nine individuals were initially arrested by the Pune Police in 2018, while seven others were subsequently arrested by the NIA after it assumed charge of the investigation. Among the accused was Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, who died in judicial custody in 2021 while awaiting trial.
At present, all surviving accused persons have secured bail from the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court. Charges have not yet been framed in the case, and the trial has not commenced because the court is still adjudicating various discharge applications filed by the accused.
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