The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, December 1, granted default bail to lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case. The trial court will decide on the default bail conditions on December 8.

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The high court rejected the bail applications of the other accused in the case. The National Investigating Agency said that it will challenge the HC’s order in the Supreme Court.

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An accused is entitled to get default bail after the statutory custodial period is over.

The Maharashtra government had earlier opposed the default bail plea of Sudha Bharadwaj. Bharadwaj had previously sought default bail on the ground that two earlier orders, which were passed in a Pune sessions court in 2018, were beyond the jurisdiction of that court. Thus, with such illegalities involved, bail should be granted, Bharadwaj’s counsel argued.

THE ELGAR PARISHAD CASE

Several suspects were arrested in the Elgar Parishad case for allegedly engaging in anti-national activities and being associated with banned organisations, like the Communist Party of India (Maoists).

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Police have said that some incendiary speeches were delivered on December 31, 2017, at an event organised by Elgar Parishad in Pune. According to Pune Police, the speeches led to rioting in the Bhima Koregaon area on January 1, 2018.

In the following days, over a dozen activists from across India were picked up by Pune Police. Cops also alleged that when they conducted raids on the premises of some of the accused, incriminating documents were found on their gadgets.