The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia while granting bail noted that the activists have been in custody for five years. "It grants bail to Gonsalves and Ferreira while considering that almost 5 years lapsed since they were taken into custody. There is a case for bail," said the SC. Both were lodged in jail since August 2018.
The Court further said that Gonsalves and Ferreira should not leave Maharashtra and surrender their passports to the police. It also directed the two activists to use one mobile each and let the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, know their addresses.
The activists had moved the top court against a Bombay High Court order rejecting their bail pleas.
The case pertains to the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which according to the Pune police was funded by Maoists. The inflammatory speeches made there led to violence at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune the next day, police had alleged.
(With agencies input)
