The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail pleas of Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves in the Bhima Koregaon case.
All three accused have been booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Pune police which has accused them of inciting caste-based violence at Koregaon Bhima in January, 2018.
Recently the apex court had granted interim protection from arrest to journalist Gauatam Navlakha, another accused in the case. Navlakha had challenged the Bombay High Court order refusing to quash FIR against him in the case.
On September 13, the HC had refused to quash the FIR lodged against Navlakha in the 2017 Bhima-Koregaon violence and for having alleged Maoist links, noting that there was prima facie substance in the case. The HC had said, “Considering the magnitude of the case, we feel a thorough investigation is required”.
The FIR was lodged against Navlakha and others by the Pune Police in January 2018 after the Elgar Parishad held on December 31, 2017 that had allegedly triggered violence at Koregaon Bhima in Pune district the next day.
The police had also alleged that Navlakha and other accused in the case had Maoist links and were working towards overthrowing the government.