Mumbai: The Special NIA court in the Bombay Sessions Court has directed the investigating officers of the Mumbai-Bhima Koregaon and Elgar Parishad case to appear on Monday to brief the investigating officers on the issue of delay in providing cloned copies of electronic devices to all the accused.
Following the directions given by the Supreme Court, the court has decided to start the hearing on this petition on Monday to determine the charges in this case within three months and dispose of the acquittal petition filed by the accused. In the Elgar Parishad case, 15 persons were booked under the Unlawful Activities Act. Two accused in this case are out on bail. Seven accused in this case are in judicial custody since 2018 and six since 2020.
The court cannot proceed with the case unless clone copies of the electronic devices seized from them are made available. Special public prosecutor Prakash Shetty said that most of the accused have been given copies. Public prosecutor Prakash Shetty argued that this should not stop the trial from being started, as there is no reason why the cloned copies should not be given to the accused, but the trial should not be stalled.
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He also sought the court's direction to the forensic science laboratory in Pune, which is preparing clone copies. The accused submitted that since the NIA is relying on electronic devices as evidence, it was argued before the court that they cannot defend themselves unless the entire material to be produced by the NIA is provided and instructed to ensure this.
The judge said the court can be informed about the time taken or the court can fix the period. The court has decided to hear the acquittal petition filed by the four accused Anand Teltumbde, Mahesh Raut, Jyoti Jagtap and Sudhir Dhavale from September 23. What exactly is the case? On December 31, 2017, on the 200th anniversary of the war between the Maratha army and the East India Company, a rally was jointly taken out by several Dalit organisations under the programme Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas Prerna Abhiyan. During that time, a riot broke out in Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018. The repercussions of this incident were felt all over the country.
The Pune police started an independent investigation into the violence. The Pune police arrested many people associated with the Left Movement from various parts of the country on suspicion of having alleged links with Maoist organisations saying that the Elgar Parishad was behind this. On August 28, the Pune police arrested Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bhardwaj, Varvara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves.
