Supreme Court extends house arrest of activists Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira by four weeks.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday refused to interfere in the arrest of the five activists named in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case and denied their plea seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the arrests.
In a 2-1 ruling, the bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, also extended the house arrest of the activists — Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira — by four weeks.
The court said the petitioners can seek remedy before a trial court.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said: “This is a fit and proper case for a court-monitored SIT investigation…Conduct of Pune Police fortifies an impression that investigation is not fair.”
The activists were arrested by Pune Police on 28 August in multi-city raids.
Also read: No legal basis for Supreme Court’s house arrest order in Bhima-Koregaon case
The police alleged that the five activists were part of a larger conspiracy to cause “mass destruction” and “complete break-up of law and order.” It also alleged that the activists were arrested because they were a part of a “Rajiv Gandhi-like assassination plot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
A day after their arrest, the apex court remanded the activists to house arrests.
In the aftermath of the arrest, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud remarked, “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy… the pressure cooker will burst if you don’t allow the safety valves.”
During the course of the hearings, the court expressed strong views in light of the ‘evidence’ presented before them by the Pune police, as well as the counter offered by the petitioners’ lawyers.
Also read: No evidence to link Hindu group leader Bhide to Bhima Koregaon attack, says Maharashtra CM
The petitioners, represented by senior advocates like A.M. Singhvi, Indira Jaising, Nitya Ramakrishnan and others, alleged the evidence against them was concocted and false.
The court had reserved its verdict last week on a batch of pleas filed by historian Romila Thapar who sought a probe by a SIT into the raids and arrests of five activists for their alleged links to Maoists.
SC verdict vindicates Maharashtra govt stand, says CM Fadnavis
Meanwhile, welcoming the top court’s order, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said it vindicates the state government’s stand against urban Maoists.
“In fact, this was absolutely a conspiracy against the nation. The SC has pointed out that it is not a political move or a political conspiracy,” he said.
“The SC has appreciated that the state government or the government of the day is not trying to curb dissenting voices. The SC has said…there is no mala fide action on the part of the Pune police and I think this vindicates our action, our stand,” Fadnavis added.
He said the Maharashtra police have the material evidence, “which shows that these people have been conspiring against the nation”.
The CM maintained that the arrested activists were trying to create divides between communities to create a situation of civil war in the country and were also colluding with enemy states.
“The SC has said that a clear nexus between banned organisations and these people is seen. I think these people who have also been plotting to assassinate Honourable PM are enemies of the nation and that is why the Pune police have taken this action,” he said.
With inputs from Manasi Phadke