Timeline of events – free them all

Timeline of Bhima-Koregaon Cases and Status in Court (Dec 2018 – Feb 2021)

20/02/2021 Rani

By India Civil Watch

December 28, 2017: Desecration of shrine at Vudhu Budhruk village near Bhima-Koregaon which commemorates Govind Gaikwad, a Dalit (Mahar) icon. FIR filed against the desecrators (groups linked to the RSS and Hindutva movement. which included a named individual, Milind Eknote a well-known Hindutva leader).
December 29, 2017: Call for a bandh against Dalits by same groups and individuals
December 31, 2017: Elgaar Parishad held in Pune
January 1, 2018: Tens of thousands of Dalits visit Bhima-Koregaon to mark 200th anniversary of memorial to Mahar soldiers. Some clashes between Hindutva groups and some Dalits occur in which 1 person was killed. Subsequently, large protests by Dalits in Mumbai. Police crackdown and arrests of many Dalits. No arrest of any named Hindutva individual.
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Video: Who are the accused, how many are still in jail / Cases and Charges against the BK16

15/05/2024 Asha

By The Print @ youtube

en | 7:23min | 2024
Granting bail to Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday noted that the trial in the case was not likely to conclude any time soon. What was this case about, how many people have been arrested and how many are out on bail? Apoorva Mandhani tells you in this video.
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The cases and charges against the Bhima Koregaon 16 | Explained

18/05/2024

The Hindu / by Saumya Kalia

An update on the legal status of the 16 activists, lawyers, scholars and artists arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case in 2018.
On March 16, human rights activist Gautam Navlakha penned a letter, piecing together words of lament and surrendering to imminent arrest. Mr. Navlakha, is among the 16 human rights defenders who were arrested without trial in 2018 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, for their alleged role in instigating caste violence at Bhima Koregaon.
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Bhima Koregaon case timeline

14/05/2024

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

The case relates to alleged provocations at a conference that allegedly triggered unrest near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case, saying it might take several years for the trial to conclude considering the number of witnesses and other pertinent factors. Navlakha was arrested for allegedly making provocative remarks in December 2017 at an Elgar Parishad conference a day before violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.
A timeline of the case:
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SC grants bail to Gautam Navlakha: All about the Bhima Koregaon violence case, other accused

14/05/2024

The Indian Express / by Express Web Service

Navlakha was placed under house arrest in Navi Mumbai subject to strict conditions following a Supreme Court order in November 2022, after he pleaded poor health
…
Timeline
Gautam Navlakha was arrested on April 14, 2020, over his alleged involvement in the violence that erupted in Bhima Koregaon village in Pune district on January 1, 2018. Sixteen activists have been arrested in the case — nine by Pune Police in 2018, and another seven by the NIA after it took over the investigation in January 2020 — and eight of them are currently out on bail.
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Also read:
▪ Bhima Koregaon: The process continues to clot as punishment as another year passes by (The Leaflet / Jan 2024)
▪ Truth and dare in Bhima Koregaon (The Leaflet / Oct 2023)

Shoma Sen should have been released in 2018 / Explained: The Shoma Sen bail judgment

08/04/2024 Asha

Explained: The Shoma Sen bail judgment [read judgement]

08/04/2024

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

The arguments, counter-arguments, and the many, many injustices and tethers of the judgment of the Supreme Court granting bail to former Nagpur University and women’s rights activist Shoma Sen, who spent six years in jail without a trial.
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Read judgement

‘Shoma Sen should have been released in October 2018’

09/04/2024

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

‘Shoma didn’t have the luxury of time. She was already suffering from so many ailments.’
Professor Shoma Sen, among the first to be arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, got bail on April 5, after spending almost 6 six years in jail. Advocate Susan Abraham explains to Jyoti Punwani why the Nagpur professor should have been out more than 5 years ago.

The question everyone’s asking is: If the Supreme Court has found no prima facie evidence against Shoma Sen, why did it take so long for her to get bail?
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Mahesh Raut’s bail gets entangled in tagging of similar matters

18/01/2024 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

First Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, then stay on bail, and now ‘tagging of similar matters’ means accused Mahesh Raut cannot liaison with life and liberty.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court extended the stay on the Order of the Bombay High Court granting regular bail to forest rights activist Mahesh Raut by two more weeks.
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Also read:
▪ ‘Ominous portents’: Why High Court staying its own bail orders in Bhima Koregaon case is troubling (Scroll.in / Dec 2023)
▪ Bhima Koregaon: Bombay High Court grants regular bail to Mahesh Raut (The Leaflet / Sep 2023)
▪ Bhima Koregaon Case: Mahesh Raut, youngest accused, granted bail by the Bombay HC! (SabrangIndia / Sep 2023)

Court pulls up NIA for not giving electronic evidence copies to Gautam Navlakha

16/01/2024 Asha

NIA court lambasts prosecution for not providing cloned copies of evidence to Gautam Navlakha

17/01/2024

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

During the previous hearing, journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha had filed an application seeking cloned copies of electronic evidence claimed by the investigating authorities.
On Tuesday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) admitted to not having supplied cloned copies of all electronic evidence it relies on to journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha.
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Court pulls up NIA for not giving electronic evidence copies to Gautam Navlakha

17/01/2024

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The activist’s lawyer said that the central agency earlier filed an affidavit claiming that it had provided the clones to all the accused persons.
A special court on Tuesday pulled up the National Investigation Agency for failing to provide cloned copies of the electronic evidence it is relying on in the Bhima Koregaon case to human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, the Leaflet reported.
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Also Read:
▪ NIA submits affidavit stating accused have been provided copies of all evidence (The Leaflet / Oct 2023)
▪ Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)
▪ Incriminating document found in Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer ‘planted’; similar tampering found in other Bhima Koregaon accused: Reports American forensic firm (The Leaflet / Dec 2022)

Bhima Koregaon: The process continues to clot as punishment as another year passes by

01/01/2024 Asha

The Leaflet / by Ayaz Parrey and Sarah Thanawala

Many of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case have now spent one more year incarcerated without a trial. A far cry from the verbiage of high judicial officials that even a day’s denial of liberty is too much.
… Here is a recap of the major developments in the case this year, of bail applications granted, stayed and pending; the consistent pleas for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to comply with the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973; and the courts heeding to medical conditions-related pleas of the accused.
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Truth and dare in Bhima Koregaon

02/10/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Susan Abraham

The Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad ‘Maoist’ conspiracy case is a grand experiment with truth where the State is daring the people to stand up for justice.
‘TRUTH or dare’ is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a ‘dare’. The premise is simple: Players take turns asking one another ‘truth or dare?’ If they choose truth, they have to answer a question of the asker’s choosing. If they choose dare, the asker dares them to do something rather than make a confession.
Suppose the State were to subject its citizens to a macabre version of this game by cooking up a conspiracy case and locking up people behind bars. Then tell them that in order to win their freedom, they have to choose the ‘truth’ of the conspiracy or the ‘dare’ to dissent.
This is the absurd logic that plays out when you try to make sense of the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case.
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Also read:
● Five years of Bhima Koregaon arrests: CDRO marks ‘black day’ (The Leaflet / Jun 2023)

The Bhima Koregaon Arrests: The Story So Far

13/09/2023 Asha

Supreme Court Observer / by Joyston D’Souza

Some of the accused activists have finally been granted bail. But charges have not been framed even five years after their arrests.
On 1 January 2018, protests and violence spread across Maharashtra following an attack on a gathering of Dalit persons at Bhima Koregaon. At least one person died and three others were injured. An investigation which began with FIRs lodged against pro-Hindutva leaders then took a baffling turn, with a number of renowned activists being arrested for instigating violence through inflammatory speeches at the event, which is also called Elgar Parishad.
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Also Read:
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)
● Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each (The Leaflet / June 2022)

National Campaign to Defend Democracy: 5 years of unjust incarceration under fabricated evidence

24/07/2023 Asha

Counterview / by National Campaign to Defend Democracy

…
The National Campaign to Defend Democracy which is a coalition of over 100 organisations working on human rights issues would like bring to your attention the situation of five years of unjust incarceration under false and fabricated evidence of some of India’s finest intellectuals, thinkers, activists and lawyers.
This injustice which goes by the name of the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Conspiracy case – started its nightmarish journey five years ago. Even as of today, 16 noted academics, intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, stand charged with conspiring to overthrow the elected government, indulging in terrorist acts, sedition etc., although the evidence the back these tall claims of high treason is still absent.
Read full statement

Also read:
● NIA gets more time to reply to plea for furnishing copies of evidence to the accused (The Leaflet / July 2023)
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)
● Incriminating evidence planted in computers: The Trojan solved the Bhima Koregaon case! (Anchored Narratives / Jan 2023)
● Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)

Court asks NIA to provide Surendra Gadling copies of the police report and other documents

19/06/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Surendra Gadling, along with 15 other activists and academics, has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Gadling has been in custody since June 2018 and is lodged at Taloja Central Prison in Mumbai.
On Monday, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria heard an application filed by human rights lawyer and Dalit rights activist Surendra Gadling regarding a plea for the NIA to comply with Section 207 (supply to the accused of copy of police report and other documents) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Read more

Also read/watch:
● Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)

● Video: The Second Song of Surendra Galding (Adv-Surendra-Gadling-Defence-Committee / lyrics by Sagar Gorkhe)

hindi | 8:43min | June 6, 2023
Five years back this day they took him away hoping to break his spirit.
1825 days so far behind bars and see who won?
During the short release he sang his heart.
Caged yet fearless.
U can jail him not his charisma.
This is the second of the songs.
Watch video / Listen to the song

● Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling (The Wire / lyrics by Ramesh Gaychor)

hindi | 11min | 2021
51- year-old 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

When Push Comes to Shove: Tracking Judicial Recusals and Transfers

04/04/2023 Asha

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Taking stock of some cases important for the right to life and liberty and freedom of expression where judges left mid-way.
… The Elgar Parishad case against 16 human rights defenders has gone through several twists and turns over the past five years. Both the state and the Central agency’s role, the subsequent investigations and the electronic evidence allegedly gathered from the accused have faced severe criticism. Even five years later, the trial is yet to commence and those imprisoned have been moving bail applications at different levels. In some of these matters, a number of judges from the Bombay high court and the Supreme Court have recused themselves.
Read more

Also Read:
● Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay HC recuses from hearing bail plea of Mahesh Raut, others (India Legal / March 2023)