Mumbai: NIA court rejects default bail to five accused in Elgar-Parishad case

Representative image

On Tuesday, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court denied the default bail plea of academician Shoma Sen and four other accused - professor Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dawale, activist Rona Wilson, advocate Surendra Gadling and Mahesh Raut, in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

The accused had originally filed the application for default bail in 2018 at a sessions court in Pune when the case was being probed by the police.

The accused, in their plea, had claimed that the 90-days extension granted by the sessions court for filing of chargesheet in the case was "illegal", and hence, they were entitled for default bail under provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

Also Read: Elgar Parishad case: Bombay HC dismisses plea of Varavara Rao and 2 other accused seeking default bail

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.

The probe in the case, in which more than a dozen activists and academicians have been named as accused, was later transferred to the NIA.

(with inputs from PTI)