Persecution – Page 3 – free them all

Sudhir Dhawale interview: ‘The law remains blind to injustice even with the blindfold gone’

05/02/2025 Asha

Credits: Tabassum Barnagarwala/Scroll.in

Scroll.in / by Tabassum Barnagarwala

The writer spent six years and seven months in jail before receiving bail in the Bhima Koregaon case.
On January 24, when Sudhir Dhawale walked back into the narrow lane in the Mumbai neighbourhood of Govandi where he lived until he was arrested in June, 2018, young men welcomed him with the beat of the dhol.
His neighbours then marched in a celebratory procession to a statue of BR Ambedkar 100 metres away. Dhawale garlanded the statue and gave a short speech about the importance of safeguarding Dalit rights. And just like that, he said, his life returned to normal.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Interview | Sudhir Dhawale’s Work Will Go on (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Rona Wilson interview: ‘My arrest was a warning to others who stand against the abuse of power’ (Scroll.in / Feb 2025)
▪ Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice by a state that punishes dissent [read order] (Sabrangindia / Jan 2025)
▪ Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati │ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)

Rona Wilson interview: ‘My arrest was a warning to others who stand against the abuse of power’

01/02/2025 Asha

Credits: Scroll.in / Tabassum Barnagarwala

Scroll.in / by Tabassum Barnagarwala

The activist and researcher was released on bail on January 8 after spending more than six years in jail without trial in the Bhima Koregaon case.
At 53, researcher Rona Wilson is trying to pick up the pieces of the life he was forced to leave behind when he was arrested in the contentious Bhima Koregaon case six years and seven months ago.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice by a state that punishes dissent [read order] (Sabrangindia / Jan 2025)
▪ Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale Get Bail After 6.5 Years of Jail in Elgar Parishad Case (The Wire / Jan 2025)
▪ Five Years of Incarceration – and the Audacity of Hope (The Wire | Rona Wilson | Jul 2023)

2016 Surjagarh Mine Arson Case: SC To Hear Bail Plea Of Surendra Gadling Next Week

30/01/2025 Asha

Outlook / by pti

On December 25, 2016, Maoist rebels allegedly set ablaze 76 vehicles being used for transporting iron ore from Surajgarh mines in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli.
The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned to next week the hearing on the bail plea of advocate Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal deferred the matter as additional solicitor general Raja Thakare, representing Maharashtra government, was unavailable.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Gadchiroli arson case: Supreme Court issues notice in bail plea of Surendra Gadling (The Leaflet / Oct 2023)
▪ Now, ED Wants to Probe Elgar Parishad Case, Accuses Surendra Gadling of ‘Money Laundering’ (The Wire / July 2022)
▪ Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)
▪ Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview / Dec 2020)
▪ Now Gadchiroli Police takes custody of Surendra Gadling, P Varavara Rao, prompting senior lawyers to say this is ‘ever-greening of charges’ (The Leaflet / Jan 2019)

By Adv Surendra Gadling Defence Committee:
With due credit to anonymous artist and to the jailed, to be jailed lawyers

Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice [read order] / Extraordinary delay in trial

27/01/2025 Asha

Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice by a state that punishes dissent [read order]

29/01/2025

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Their freedom comes after years of judicial neglect and the systemic abuse of laws to silence opposition; highlights the weaponisation of anti-terror laws to crush dissent and derail justice.
After spending nearly seven years in jail, activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale were finally released from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai on January 24, 2025. Their release came over two weeks after the Bombay High Court granted them bail in the controversial Bhima Koregaon case on January 8. The court noted the activists had been incarcerated since 2018, with no realistic hope of their trial concluding anytime soon—a grim reflection of India’s justice system and its treatment of dissenters.
Read more

Bail for Bhima Koregaon accused highlights extraordinary delay in trial

28/01/2025

Scroll.in / by Vineet Bhalla

The snail’s pace at which the Bhima Koregaon case has proceeded through the criminal justice system is due to delays attributable to the prosecution.
Activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale walked out of prison on Friday after being under incarceration for six and a half years in the Bhima Koregaon case.
The Bombay High Court granted them bail on January 8 on grounds that they had spent a long period in jail without trial or even charges being framed against them.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale Get Bail After 6.5 Years of Jail in Elgar Parishad Case (The Wire / Jan 2025)
▪ Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)

After 6.5 years in jail: Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson released from Taloja Central Jail

24/01/2025 Asha

Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale released on bail after over 6 years in prison

26/01/2025

The Sunday Gardian / by Correspondent

On January 24, 2025, researcher Rona Wilson and activist Sudhir Dhawale were released on bail from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai, more than 6 years after their arrest in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
The duo walked out of the prison around 1:30 pm after completing bail formalities, following a decision by the Bombay High Court.
Read more

Activists Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale released from jail

24/01/2025

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The Bombay High Court granted them bail on January 8, stating that ‘there is no possibility of the trial to conclude in the near future’.
Activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale were released from jail in Navi Mumbai on Friday, more than two weeks after the Bombay High Court granted them bail in the Bhima Koregaon case, PTI reported.
The High Court granted them bail on January 8, stating that the activists had been in jail since 2018 and “there is no possibility of the trial to conclude in the near future”.
Read more

Activists Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson released from Taloja Central Jail

24/01/2025

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson were earlier granted bail by the Bombay High Court on grounds of long incarceration without trial.
ctivists Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson, both of whom were arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case in 2018, were released from Taloja Central Jail on Friday afternoon. The two were granted bail by the Bombay High Court on January 8. Their lawyers completed the bail procedures on Thursday before the Mumbai trial court, after which release memos were issued.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale Get Bail After 6.5 Years of Jail in Elgar Parishad Case (The Wire / Jan 2025)

With Guards Unavailable Due to Coldplay Concert, Elgar Parishad Undertrials Consider Hunger Strike

18/01/2025 Asha

Elgaar Parishad accused threaten hunger strike after Navi Mumbai Police diverts guards for Coldplay concert

18/01/2025

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The Navi Mumbai police had said that 1,000 police personnel will be deployed for duty at the concert.
The Navi Mumbai police commissionerate has informed the Taloja Central Jail, where the male Elgaar Parishad accused are lodged. The jail was informed that all guards are deployed at the Coldplay concert which is to take place on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday and hence, guards will not be available to produce undertrials for court hearings or other scheduled visits like the hospital.
Read more

With Guards Unavailable Due to Coldplay Concert, Elgar Parishad Undertrials Mull Hunger Strike

18/01/2025

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The unavailability of prison guards means prisoners will miss out on scheduled court and hospital visits.
For music lovers, while the Coldplay concert promises to be an exciting event to look forward to, for those incarcerated at the Taloja Central Jail located on the outskirts of Mumbai, the next three days of the concert come with an unintended consequence: missing their scheduled court and hospital visits.
Read more

Also read:
▪ The Elgar prisoners’ latest hunger strike marks a momentous victory for prison rights (The Polis Project / Nov 2024)
▪ Elgar Parishad case accused seeks contempt action against Navi Mumbai cop (India Today / Oct 2024)
▪ Arrested BK16 Poet Alleges Intimidation After Protesting Prison Corruption (Indiejournal.in / Jul 2024)
▪ Exorbitant Prices of Food, Corrupt Officials Divert Ration to VIP Prisoners: Jailed Activists (The Wire / Aug 2024)
▪ Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 2022)

Bombay HC tells special NIA court to expedite trial, complete framing of charges within 9 months

15/01/2025 Asha

Why Rona Wilson & Sudhir Dhawale were granted bail after 6 yrs in jail

15/01/2025

The Print / by Khadija Khan

Wilson, a researcher, and Dhawale, an activist, were booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which has strict bail provisions. Bombay HC relied on a 2021 SC ruling.
Trial in the Elgar Parishad or Bhima Koregaon violence case is not likely to end soon, given that the prosecution has named 363 persons as its witnesses. With this crucial observation and noting that charges have not yet been framed in the case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Bombay High Court last week granted bail to researcher Rona Wilson and activist Sudhir Dhawale.
Read more

Bombay HC tells special NIA court to expedite trial, complete framing of charges within 9 months

15/01/2025

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The court’s directive came while granting bail to Elgaar Parishad accused activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhavale, citing prolonged incarceration of over six and half years.
The Bombay High Court has asked the special court designated under National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act to expedite the trial in Elgaar Parishad case and said that framing of charges be completed within nine months.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale Get Bail After 6.5 Years of Jail in Elgar Parishad Case (The Wire / Jan 2025)

NIA court rejects Surendra Gadling’s plea for walks in jail premises

12/01/2025 Asha

Credits: Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

Better take complete bed rest if you are suffering: NIA court rejects Surendra Gadling’s plea for walks outside prison

12/01/2025

Hindustan Times / by Revu Suresh

NIA court denies activist Surendra Gadling’s plea for outdoor walks in jail, suggesting bed rest for his ailments instead, citing prison rules violations.
The special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court rejected a plea filed by activist-lawyer Surendra Gadling, 57, seeking permission to take morning and evening walks outside his prison cell circle within Taloja jail premises. The lawyer, who was arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case, said he suffered from various ailments. In response, the court on Tuesday said if he really suffered, then he should take bed rest.
Read more

Accused lawyer’s plea for morning, evening walks in jail premises rejected

11/01/2025

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The court noted that while Gadling, who is lodged at Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai, had cited various ailments to seek relief, the barrack in which he is kept has natural air and light available for all purposes.
… The order, passed by special sessions judge Chakor S Baviskar on January 7, was made available on Saturday.
Read more

Court rejects Gadling’s plea to walk outside ‘circle’ in jail

11/01/2025

The Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel

Surendra Gadling, an advocate and Elgar Parishad case accused, submitted a plea to the special NIA court seeking permission to walk outside the “circle”—the designated space given to undertrials – but within the jail premises for two hours daily. He supported his request by attaching two Google Maps images to the plea.
Read more

Also read/watch:
▪ The Elgar prisoners’ latest hunger strike marks a momentous victory for prison rights (The Polis Project / Nov 2024)
▪ How Long Is Too Long for an Undertrial Prisoner To Be Detained? (The Wire | by Hany Babu & Surendra Gadling | Oct 2024)
▪ Elgar Parishad case accused seeks contempt action against Navi Mumbai cop (India Today / Oct 2024)
▪ Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling (The Wire / lyrics by Ramesh Gaychor)

hindi | 11min | 2021
Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
Watch video / Listen to the song

Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale Get Bail After 6.5 Years in Bhima-Koregaon Elgaar Parishad Case

09/01/2025 Asha

Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale Get Bail After 6.5 Years of Jail in Elgar Parishad Case

08/01/2025

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The NIA claimed before the Bombay HC that it would ‘expedite the trial’ in the case in which charges are yet to be framed.
After over six years and six months of incarceration, the Bombay high court today, January 8, granted bail to two human rights defenders, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale.
Both Wilson and Dhawale were among the first group of human rights activists to be arrested in the highly contentious Elgar Parishad case over what law enforcement claimed was their alleged Maoist links. Their bail in the high court, granted by a bench of Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata, came after an appeal was filed by their lawyers following rejections by the trial court.
Read more

Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Rona Wilson & Sudhir Dhawale In Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad Case

08/01/2025

Live Law / by Narsi Benwal

In a major relief for researcher Rona Wilson and activist Sudhir Dhawale, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday (January 8) granted them bail in the Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad case.
A division bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Kamal Khata considered the fact that the duo have spent more than 6 years in jail as undertrials.
Read more

Bail for activists Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale in Bhima Koregaon case

08/01/2025

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

‘They are in jail since 2018, even the charges in the case are yet to be framed,’ the Bombay High Court observed on Wednesday.
Activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale were on Wednesday granted bail by the Bombay High Court in the Bhima Koregaon case, Live Law reported.
Read more

Bombay High Court grants bail to Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale

08/01/2025

Bar & Bench / by Sahyaja MS

A Bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata granted bail citing prolonged incarceration, the non-framing of charges and the fact that over 300 witnesses would have to be examined.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale, accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case.
…
Bail was granted subject to bail bonds of ₹1 lakh and also on the condition that the accused shall report before National Investigation Agency (NIA) every Monday.
Read more

Activists Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale get bail, six accused in Elgaar Parishad case still remain behind bars

08/01/2025

The Indian Express / by Omkar Gokhale

Cites long incarceration, trial unlikely to conclude in near future
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale, both of whom were arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case in 2018, on grounds of long incarceration without trial.
With this, of the 16 arrested in the case—initially by the Pune police in 2018 and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2020—nine are out of jail. While Father Stan Swamy passed away in custody in 2021, six still remain in custody, including Mahesh Raut, who was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in September 2023, but remains behind bars as his bail plea is pending before the Supreme Court.
Read more

Sagar Gorkhe and Mahesh Raut granted interim bail to appear for law exams

08/01/2025 Asha

Mahesh Raut granted interim bail to appear for law exam

08/01/2025

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

NIA court grants temporary bail to activist Mahesh Raut for law exam, requiring him to provide address and phone number, surrender post-exam.
A special NIA court on Tuesday granted temporary bail to Mahesh Raut, an activist lodged in Taloja central jail in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, to attend his law examination. The court granted him bail from January 13 to January 30, on a personal recognition bond of ₹50,000.
Read more

Elgar Parishad accused granted interim bail to appear for law exams

08/01/2025

India Today / by Vidya

A special NIA court granted interim bail to Mahesh Raut, accused in the Elgar Parishad case, to attend law exams. Raut, in custody since 2018, must surrender after his exams end on January 30.
A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday granted interim bail to Mahesh Raut, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, allowing him to appear for law degree examinations.
Read more

Accused In Elgar Parishad Case Gets Interim Bail To Appear For Law Exam

07/01/2025

NDTV / by pti

The court directed Gorkhe to furnish an active mobile cell phone number to jail authorities, the NIA and the prosecution as well.
More than four years after his arrest, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Friday granted interim bail to Sagar Gorkhe, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, to appear for his law degree exam. The 22-day temporary bail was granted on a PR (personal recognizance) bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety of similar amount.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
▪ Maharashtra: Raising the bar from behind bars (Midday.com / May 2024)
▪ Bhima Koregaon case: Two prisoners pass law entrance test (Hindustan Times / May 2024)