New Delhi : The Supreme Court Wednesday admitted a plea by National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to Mahesh Raut, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Raut (35) was arrested on June 6, 2018 and is lodged at Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.
A bench comprising justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi extended the stay, which was granted by the Bombay High Court on the bail order, till the next date of hearing on October 5. Additional solicitor general (ASG) S V Raju along with advocate Kanu Agarwal, representing the NIA, requested the court to extend the stay granted by the high court.
The bench said it will admit the plea and hear the matter. "Leave granted. List on October 5, 2023. The stay already granted by Bombay High Court on operation of judgment and order shall continue until the next date of hearing”, said the bench.
The counsel, representing Raut, said his client has been granted bail after five-and-half-years and he was a fellow in Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the matter is completely covered by the apex court order in Vernon Gonsalves matter and it is the same issue. Raju requested the court to extend the stay for one week.
Raut, a land rights activist working in Gadchiroli area, had approached the high court with an appeal seeking regular bail in 2022 after the special NIA court rejected his bail plea in November 2021.
The counsel, representing Raut in the high court, had submitted that he is not a member of the banned CPI(Maoist) and pointed out that he is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellowship. The counsel contended that the trial in the case has not commenced and it will take considerable time as the NIA has listed 336 witnesses in the case.
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Opposing bail, the NIA had argued before the high court that Raut as per letters found on the computer of a co-accused, was involved in Maoist activities having direct impact on unity, integrity and sovereignty of India.
On July 28, the Supreme Court had said that mere possession of the literature, even if the content thereof inspires or propagates violence, by itself cannot constitute any of the offences within Chapters IV and VI of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, while granting bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case.
