Elgar case: Activist Rona Wilson gets temporary bail to attend father's mass

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A special NIA court here on Tuesday granted temporary bail for 15 days to activist Rona Wilson, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to attend a mass organised for his father, who died last month, at his native place in Kerala.

He was allowed interim bail from September 13 to 27 by special judge D E Kothalikar, who imposed certain conditions while granting relief to the jailed activist.

The judge directed the accused to surrender his passport to the court before leaving for his native place.

Wilson should not leave the limits of his native place Neendakara in Kollam city of Kerala, the court said and maintained no prayer for extension of the bail will be entertained.

Wilson was arrested in June 2018 by the Pune police, which was then probing the case. He is currently in judicial custody and lodged in the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.

Also Read: Elgar Parishad: NIA opposes Rona Wilson's temporary bail plea to attend mass

Last week, Wilson, through his lawyers R Sathyanayanan and Niraj Yadav, had moved a plea in the court seeking temporary bail for two weeks for visiting his native place to attend the mass organised for his father (84) who died on August 18.

His plea said as per customs, a function has been organised on the 30th day of his father's death that falls on September 16.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday opposed Wilson's plea for temporary bail. The central agency had told the court the presence of the accused for the mass was not required.

The final rites of the activist's father were already over and Wilson was simply creating a ground for his release, the NIA had argued.

Special prosecutor Prakash Shetty, appearing for the NIA, had told the court there were chances of Wilson carrying out some illicit activity if released on bail, and that he may also influence witnesses.

Wilson and other activists were initially booked by the Pune police after violence erupted near Koregaon-Bhima, on outskirts of Pune city, on January 1, 2018, a day after a conclave, Elgar Parishad, was organised.

Inflammatory speeches and provocative statements made at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on December 31, 2017, triggered the violence at Koregaon-Bhima the next day, the police had alleged.

According to the police, the event was "backed" by Maoists.

The NIA later took over the probe in the case from the Pune police.

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