Mumbai, May 15: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday moved a plea before a special court here seeking cancellation of bail granted to activists Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao, both accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, citing violation of bail conditions.
Bharadwaj was granted bail on technical grounds in 2021, while Rao walked out of jail a year later.
At the time of granting bail to them, the court had imposed a slew of other conditions on the duo, including not leaving Mumbai without the court’s permission, surrendering their passports to the NIA, and not to speak to the media about the case.
The NIA has sought cancellation of their bail primarily on the ground that they attended an event at the Mumbai Press Club on January 19 this year, which violates their bail conditions.
Two days after the event, the Press Club had suspended three of its members.
The court sought the response of both the accused and the matter will next be heard on May 22.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
The Pune police, which probed the case initially, had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. An FIR was lodged by the police on January 8, 2018 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The NIA later took over the probe in the case, in which more than a dozen activists and academicians were arrested. Most of the accused are currently out on bail.
