Elgar Parishad Case: Bombay High Court to Hear Activist Sudha Bharadwaj's Bail Application on Friday

The Bombay High Court will hear on Friday a bail application filed by activist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case.

Bharadwaj, who was arrested in August 2018, moved the HC last week against the order of the NIA court in Mumbai that rejected her interim bail plea on May 29.

The case was scheduled for hearing before a bench led by Justice SS Shinde on Tuesday but the hearing was adjourned to Friday as the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the prosecuting agency, was yet to be served a copy of the petition by Bharadwaj's lawyers.

The activist has sought bail on health grounds, citing high risk of the spread of coronavirus in prison. Bharadwaj, 58, is currently lodged in Mumbai's Byculla women's jail where an inmate had tested positive for coronavirus last month.

In her bail plea, Bharadwaj said she was diabetic and suffered from hypertension. These 'comorbidities' (existing health conditions) put her in a high-risk category for contracting the infection, she said.

Social distancing in prison was nearly impossible due to overcrowding, hence she should be released on bail, the application said.

Bharadwaj was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017.

Pune Police alleged that Maoists had backed the conclave and the inflammatory speeches delivered at the event triggered violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in the district the next day.

The probe into the case, in which several rights activists were arrested, was transferred to the NIA on January 24, 2020.