Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira granted bail by Supreme Court in Bhima Koregaon case.

Supreme Court grants bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Bhima Koregaon case

The Supreme Court has granted bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, who were charged with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in relation to the Bhima Koregaon violence. The court noted that the two had been in custody for over five years and stated that while the allegations against them are serious, that alone cannot be the sole ground to deny bail.

Gonsalves and Ferreira have been lodged in Mumbai’s Taloja jail since 2018 and had approached the apex court for bail after their pleas were denied by the Bombay High Court. They argued that the Bombay HC had granted bail to co-accused Sudha Bharadwaj but denied them bail.

Bail granted with conditions

The bail has been granted with certain conditions. The duo cannot leave Maharashtra without obtaining permission from the trial court and they have to surrender their passports to the investigating officer of the National Investigation Agency. There are also restrictions on their place of residence and the use of mobile phones, among others.

The Bhima Koregaon case

The Bhima Koregaon case relates to a conference held in Pune’s Shaniwar Wada to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon-Bhima and the subsequent violence that occurred, resulting in the death of a young man and injuries to several others.

Activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, along with other activists Sudha Bharadwaj, P Vara Vara Rao, and Gautam Navlakha, were arrested and charged under the UAPA several months later in August 2018. Initially, they were all put under house arrest on the directions of the Supreme Court.

Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry

The Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, which was constituted by the Maharashtra government in February 2018 to probe the cause of the violence, has been granted another extension. The commission is headed by retired HC judge Justice J N Patel and former chief secretary Sumit Mallick is the second member.