The much-acclaimed documentary film Prisoners of Conscience, made by Anand Patwardhan in 1978, also mentions the two Adivasi revolutionaries, Bhumaiah and Kishta Goud, who were hanged on 1 December 1975 during the Emergency.
… At the time when Bhumaiah and Kishta Goud were being held in Mushirabad Jail [Secunderabad] awaiting execution, revolutionary poet Varavara Rao was also imprisoned in the same jail under the notorious MISA [Maintenance of Internal Security Act] along with other comrades of Virasam [Revolutionary Writers’ Association]. When he learned that Bhumaiah and Kishta Goud were waiting for death in the gallows located on the other side of the prison kitchen, he became desperate to meet them. He requested the jailer, who eventually allowed him to meet them for a short while. Read more
Poet, Marxist critic and activist, Varavara Rao (VV) has been continually persecuted by the state and intermittently imprisoned since 1973, but he never stopped writing during all these decades, even from within prison. When he was subjected to ‘one thousand days of solitary confinement’ during 1985-89 in Secunderabad Jail, a leading national daily invited him to write about his prison experiences.
Umar Khalid’s six years in Tihar expose how prolonged pretrial detention under UAPA has become a means of punishing dissent, with Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis bearing a disproportionate burden.
On September 13, 2026, Umar Khalid completed six years in Tihar Jail. Not one prosecution witness has been examined.
There is a particular kind of silence that settles over a case like Umar’s. This is the silence of a system that has learned to punish without verdict, to sentence without trial, and most importantly, to convert the process itself into the penalty.
… The Bhima-Koregaon case offers a parallel indictment of the same machinery. It has been eight years since the alleged incident. Even the trial has not begun. Read more
Who Will Police the Indian Police?
13/09/2026
The Wire / by Anand Teltumbde
Police reform will remain cosmetic unless policing is made strictly accountable to the law rather than to political power.
Police are the face of the state to ordinary Indians. And that face is often one of raw terror. People encounter the state through the policeman at the street corner, the police station, the barricade or the interrogation room. As veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar once observed, the ordinary person’s first encounter with the police often begins with abuse and the danda. Read more
Serving the Powerful, Failing the Powerless
13/09/2026
Peoples Democracy / by MA Baby
Justice Deepak Gupta, a former judge of the Supreme Court, marked the eightieth anniversary of Independence by asking in print what few in his position have dared to ask; how free are we, the citizens of India?
… The Bhima Koregaon prosecution is in its ninth year. Father Stan Swamy died in custody in July 2021. Surendra Gadling got bail in May 2026 after nearly eight years, only to stay in jail on a second case. Every surviving accused has now been granted bail; not one has faced trial, because charges have still not been framed, and forensic findings that the incriminating files were planted by malware have never been judicially examined. The process is the punishment, and the court’s refusal to intervene is what keeps the process alive. Read more
“The process has become the punishment”: Former SC judge Justice Deepak Gupta flags Umar Khalid’s incarceration, judicial majoritarianis
11/09/2026
Maktoob / by Maktoob
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta criticised prolonged incarceration, judicial majoritarianism and courts’ failure to protect individual liberty, saying “the process has become the punishment” while citing the cases of Umar Khalid, Elgar Parishad and Sonam Wangchuk.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta criticised the judiciary’s failure to protect individual liberty, citing rights activist Umar Khalid’s prolonged incarceration and the Elgar Parishad case, and said “the process has become the punishment” as people are labelled “anti-nationals” and their lives ruined. Read more
The true meaning of freedom
06/09/2026
The Tribune / by Justice Deepak Gupta
No country can claim to be free unless it has an independent and fearless judiciary
After the marching has come to a halt, the drumrolls have fallen silent and the euphoria of India’s 80th Independence Day celebrations has lessened, I ponder, how free are we, the citizens of India?
… The accused in the Elgar Parishad case were kept behind bars for years; one died in jail. The allegations against them are said to be very serious. If so, why has the prosecution not shown the same seriousness to start the trial? Eight years have passed since the incident took place. The trial is yet to begin. Read more
As per historical records, the Jaystambh, is a military monument erected by the British government in 1822 in memory of its soldiers who fought against the Peshwas in the Battle of Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 1818.
A court in Pune on Friday allowed the Jamadar-Malvadkar family’s permanent possession of Jaystambh and adjoining land (measuring about 9.25 acre) located at Perne village in Haveli taluka on the Pune-Ahilyanagar highway. Read more
The Elgar Parishad case has been transferred from Mumbai’s designated NIA court in Sessions Court No. 25 to newly notified Court No. 26. The move comes as discharge hearings were nearing completion, with several applications pending for over two years. The transfer could require arguments to be repeated, potentially delaying proceedings.
Days after the NIA court refused to cancel the bail of activists Sudha Bharadwaj, poet Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, booked in connection with their alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad violence case, the case has been transferred to another court. Read more
Supreme Court to hear bail plea of Bhima Koregaon accused Surendra Gadling on October 14
01/09/2026
The Hindu / by The Hindu Bureau
The present bail plea arises from the 2016 Surjagarh arson case, in which several vehicles transporting iron ore from Surjagarh mines in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district were allegedly set ablaze by persons associated with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist)
The Supreme Court said on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) that it would her on October 14 a bail plea filed by advocate and activist Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case. Read more
Supreme Court to hear Surendra Gadling’s bail plea on Oct 14
01/09/2026
The Print / by pti
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear on October 14 a plea filed by advocate Surendra Gadling seeking bail in the 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case.
Gadling has challenged in the apex court a January 2023 order of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court which refused to grant him bail in the case.
The plea came up for hearing before a bench of justices Vikram Nath, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Gadling, said the petitioner is also an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, and he is already granted bail in that case. Read more
Bail is the Rule, Jail is the Exception: The Promise of the Constitution and the Reality of State Repression
30/08/2026
Countercurrents / by Asish Gupta
Former Maoist leader Azad alias Dana Keshav Rao, had a total of 49 cases pending against him in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh after being arrested by the police in 2011. He spent more than 15 years and 2 months in prison as an undertrial prisoner. … Finally, in August 2026, he was acquitted in all 49 cases and released from prison. A lack of sufficient evidence was one of the key grounds for his acquittal.
…
Surendra Gadling’s situation underscores a broader dilemma. Even after securing bail in the Bhima-Koregaon case, he could not be released immediately because he faced a separate case related to the 2016 Surjagarh arson, in which his bail application was pending before the Supreme Court. Thus, while a person was granted bail in one case on the ground of prolonged undertrial detention, the doors of the prison remained closed due to another case.
This illustrates a structural loophole in the Indian bail system. Read more
Who is Ajay Kumar? Why Has He Been Behind Bars for the Last Two Years?
30/08/2026
Campaign Against State Repression / by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)
An activist, writer, lawyer, and intellectual, Ajay Kumar has dedicated nearly three decades of his life to the struggles of the toiling masses for liberation from oppression and exploitation.
… Ajay was actively involved in the Forum Against the War on People, which opposed attacks by state forces and the corporate-sponsored militia Salwa Judum on Adivasi communities in central India under Operation Green Hunt. He was also a founding member of the Vistapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVA), a coalition of more than 50 organisations from across the country working against the forcible displacement of peasants, particularly Adivasis, for corporate land acquisition and extractive projects.
VVJVA has campaigned against the forced displacement of peasant and Adivasi communities for the construction of big dams, industrial projects, mines, Special Economic Zones, highways, National Parks, and Smart City projects, among others.
… As a member of the Indian Association of Peoples Lawyers (IAPL), he has worked for the release of political prisoners, including those incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case. Read full statement
Click to enlarge
Civil Liberties Groups Seek Release of Political Prisoners
29/08/2026
Deccan Chronicle / by DC Correspondent
The Civil Liberties Committee (CLC) along with CPI and other activists demanded the release of political prisoners detained under UAPA cases.
“It is necessary that we strongly demand that the Telangana government release political prisoners. Governments of other states, including Andhra Pradesh, as well as the Centre, must release political prisoners,” Supreme Court advocate D. Suresh, CLC general secretary, said at a protest at Dharna Chowk on Saturday.
… Suresh said around 1,200 people in Chhattisgarh, 1,000 in Jharkhand and many others in Odisha, UP, Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi were jailed on allegations of being Maoists. He cited the case of lawyer Surendra Gadling who he said was “falsely implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case and has been unjustly languishing in jail for eight years without bail.” Read more
by Bar & Bench / @barandbench (Aug 29):
A special Mumbai court today has rejected applications filed by NIA seeking cancellation of bail of four accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case.
The special judge held that mere presence at a gathering with co-accused does not automatically amount to a breach of bail conditions without concrete evidence of illegal activities.
Bail! VV Rao, Feb 2021
Vernon & Arun walk out of jail. Aug 5, 2023.
Sudha Bharadwaj, Dec 2021
Bhima Koregaon Case: NIA Court Refuses To Cancel Bail Of Sudha Bharadwaj & 3 Others For Attending Press Club Event
30/08/2026
Live Law / by Narsi Benwal
A Special Court on Saturday (August 29) refused to cancel the bail granted to four rights activists booked in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. The Special Court has, however, ‘cautioned’ the accused persons against breaching the conditions imposed on them while granting them bail.
Special Judge Chakor Baviskar dismissed the application filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking to cancel the bail granted to Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves.
The four accused were granted bail at various points of time by either the High Court or the Supreme Court. Read more
Bhima Koregaon case: Mumbai court rejects NIA plea to cancel bail for four activists
30/08/2026
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The agency claimed that Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves violated their bail conditions by attending a gathering in January.
A Mumbai court has rejected the National Investigation Agency’s application to cancel the bail granted to four activists in the Bhima Koregaon case, reported Bar and Bench on Sunday.
The investigating agency had sought that the bail granted to activists Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves be cancelled on the grounds that they had attended a gathering at the Mumbai Press Club in January along with other persons accused in the case. Read more
Court Rejects NIA’s Plea to Put Elgar Parishad Accused Back in Jail
30/08/2026
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
There is no evidence that four accused persons in the case gathered earlier this year with a view to commit similar crimes, the court ruled.
A Mumbai court has rejected the National Investigation Agency (NIA)’s plea to put four individuals accused in the Elgar Parishad case back in jail on the grounds that they violated their bail conditions.
Special judge Chakor Baviskar on Saturday (August 29) ruled in four orders dealing with Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Vernon Gonsalves that there is no evidence they gathered at a function in Mumbai earlier this year looking to commit crimes similar to what they are accused of committing. Read more
No bail violation in ordinary human interaction, court says, rejecting NIA plea against four Elgaar Parishad accused
30/08/2026
Maktoob Media / by Maktoob
A special court on Saturday refused to cancel the bail of four human rights defenders accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, holding that the NIA had failed to produce evidence that their presence at a January gathering at the Mumbai Press Club amounted to a violation of their bail conditions.
… NIA judge Chakor Baviskar remarked that co-accused routinely meet inside and outside courtrooms during hearings and converse about their cases and personal well-being.
“By that alone, they cannot be said to be committing any breach…Merely because the venue of the meeting/gathering of the accused changed, they cannot be said to have committed breach of the bail condition,” the order stated. Read more
NIA court rejects pleas to cancel bail of 4 Elgar Parishad case accused
30/08/2026
Hindustan Times / by Vikrant Jha
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Saturday rejected the NIA’s pleas to cancel the bail of four Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case accused — Telugu poet-activist P Varavara Rao, lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, and activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, for participating in an event at the Mumbai Press Club earlier this year
The court said there was no evidence to show that the gathering they attended was meant to propagate CPI (Maoist) ideology or advance the “Urban Naxal” movement. Read more
The Special NIA Court in Mumbai rejected the agency’s plea to cancel bail granted to four Elgar Parishad accused, saying their mere presence at a Press Club gathering did not establish a violation of bail conditions or Maoist-linked activity.
A Special NIA Court in Mumbai on Saturday rejected the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) applications seeking cancellation of bail granted to activists P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Arun Ferreira in the Elgar Parishad case, holding that the agency had failed to produce sufficient evidence to establish a violation of their bail conditions. Read more
Court refuses to cancel bail of 4 accused over Press Club gathering
29/08/2026
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
NIA failed to produce evidence that Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira met to further ‘Urban Naxal’ activities, court says
A special court on Saturday refused to cancel the bail of four accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, holding that the NIA had failed to produce evidence that their presence at a January gathering at the Mumbai Press Club amounted to a violation of their bail conditions. Read more
Ranchi, August 2026. Pic credits: Catholic Connect
Catholic Connect / by Fr. Praful Bara
RANCHI, August 24, 2026: Stronger youth participation, media freedom and the protection of democratic values were the focus of the 5th Stan Memorial Lecture organised by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jharkhand, at SDC, Purulia Road, Ranchi, on August 23.
The lecture, titled “Future of Democracy: Emerging Possibilities from Youth Movements and the Role of Media,” examined the changing nature of democratic participation, the rise of youth movements and the challenges confronting independent media. The programme also recalled the life and work of Jesuit priest Stan Swamy and his advocacy for human rights and marginalised communities. Read more
▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection
Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages
‘Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach?’ because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator. This booklet is not my autobiography. It is rather a collation of some glimpses/episodes from my life that somehow made a difference for me, and possibly for my confrères, colleagues and the people with whom I have shared my life.
The TISS student’s arrest after commemorating the death anniversary of G.N. Saibaba raises fears that the machinery used to criminalise dissent, now armed with the label of “dimagi naxal”, could be ensnaring a new generation of students.
Abhirup Paul is a name that has little recall value. Note down his name, because he’s likely to be the next Surendra Gadling or the next Umar Khalid or the next Sharjeel Imam—the three men who have been languishing for years in prison and were unable to celebrate yet another Independence Day outside its forbidding walls. Like them, Paul also couldn’t celebrate, a protent that the fate of the three could also become his. Read more
Credits: Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project
The New Indian Express / by Kaleeswaram Raj
Asaram Bapu’s access to a full-time caregiver in jail highlights the stark disparities in India’s prison system, where many inmates struggle for medical care, dignity and even basic necessities
… Swamy’s and Saibaba’s predicaments are often cited, but many others have suffered in prison. In a 2024 paper, Bhavya Dore and Sukhada Tatke exposed the incredibly inhuman treatment, including denial of medical care, extended to political prisoners booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, going beyond the Swamy-Saibaba tragedies. It says the prison authorities denied even a mosquito net to people accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, including Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha and Sagar Gorkhe. Law teacher and activist Sudha Baradwaj and English teacher Shoma Sen were lodged along the Phansi yard in Yerwada jail, says the paper. Read more
