Still, it will take a week for her to be freed.
On Wednesday, a two-judge bench of the Bombay High Court granted bail to Sudha Bharadwaj, an activist-lawyer who has been jailed since August 2018 in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.
However, she will have to wait for a week until December 8 to appear before a special judge of the National Investigation Agency Court in Mumbai, who will decide the terms of the bail. Read more
Video: The Story of Sudha Bharadwaj’s Incarceration
en | 6:41min | 2021
By The Quint
Arrested on 28 August 2018, Bharadwaj has been in pre-trial detention for over three years.
Sudha Bharadwaj, a human rights lawyer, defending India’s indigenous communities, and a protector of worker’s rights, had been serving pre-trial detention since August 2018, until the Bombay High Court accepted her bail plea on 1 December. Watch video
He had sought relief for 15 days to meet his 90-year-old mother after his brother Milind Teltumbde was killed in a gunfight.
A National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai on Wednesday rejected the temporary bail application of activist Anand Teltumbde, who is an accused person in the Bhima Koregaon case, Live Law reported. Read more
NIA refuses temporary bail to Anand Teltumbde to visit family after brother s death
01/12/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Anand Teltumbde’s brother Milind Teltumbde was among the 26 killed in a recent gun-battle encounter that took place on November 13 this year at Korchi in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court rejected the plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Anand Teltumbde seeking temporary bail to visit his mother and family after the recent death of his brother Milind Teltumbde, who was also an accused in the 2018 case. Read more
PUCL Chhattisgarh welcomes the granting bail to Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj
PUCL Chhattisgarh welcomes the granting bail to Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj
01/12/2021
By PUCL Chhattisgarh
Press Release
PUCL Chhattisgarh welcomes the granting bail to Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj by the Bombay High Court and at the same time is dissapointed that the other 8 co-accused have been denied bail.
It should be mentioned that the violence inflicted by Hindu groups on and after the Bhima Koregaon celebrations in January 2018 have cost lives and resulted in several incarcerations. Including the 8 whose bail was rejected by the Bombay High Court, however, a total of 16 people have been falsely implicated in the Bhima Koregaon Case and have been in jail for years on fabricated charges under the draconian UAPA. Many others have been targetted, arrested and had their homes raided.
Father Stan Swami, one of the 16, aged 84, lost his life in custody while awaiting bail.
In Chhattisgarh there are hundreds of Adivasis who have been imprisoned under the UAPA and have been awaiting bail for years. On March 9 this year, at a program to mark International Womens Day and speak out against sexual violence inflicted on women by the police and paramilitary in Bastar, Human Rights Defender Hidme Markam was arrested and later jailed under the same draconian act.
While we eagerly await the release of Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, and for her to return amongst us, we also pledge to strengthen the struggle for release of all those imprisoned under false charges, against the UAPA and against the countrys casteist carceral system.
Bombay HC grants default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj, but declines the same to eight other accused
01/12/2021
The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmaj and Paras Nath Singh
The Bombay High Court grants default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj in the Bhima Koregaon case on the ground that the court which took cognizance of the chargesheet against her was not competent, while it denied the same to the other accused in the case, because they did not claim their right to default bail in time. Paras Nath Singh and Sabah Gurmaj write about the High Court’s application of the principles of default bail in these cases. Read more
Bombay HC Directs NIA to Get Varavara Rao Medically Examined, Submit Report
In response, NIA’s counsel Advocate Sandesh Patil issued an apology.
The Bombay High Court on Monday, 29 November, directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to get Bhima Koregaon accused Varavara Rao medically examined at a private hospital. Read more
Why the HC granted default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj and not to others / Understanding the Judgement (audio)
Audio: Understanding the Judgement of the Bombay High Court
01/12/2021
By PUCL
Date: Dec 1, 2021
Speakers: Mihir Desai and others
In order to understand the judgement in the Bhima Koregaon, default statutory bail case granting bail to Sudha Bharadwaj (National Secretary of the PUCL), but rejecting the bail of 8 others who had also similarly applied, namely Dr. Varavara Rao, Dr. Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Arun Ferreira, Mahesh Raut, we are holding a meeting on December 1st, 2021 from 8pm to 10pm.
All are welcome to listen to the lawyers share their views on the judgement. V. Suresh (General Secretary PUCL ) Kavita Srivastava (National Secretary)
Listen to recording
Why the Bombay High Court granted default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj and not to others [read order]
01/12/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Sudha Bharadwaj’s application for default bail was pending on the date the application for extension of time to file chargesheet was made.
While granting default bail to lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj on Wednesday, the Bombay High Court refused bail to eight other co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
The Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar made certain interesting observations in the 120-page order while deciding the pleas filed by Bharadwaj and 8 others challenging orders of the Pune Sessions Judges. Read more/read judgement
Time For UAPA Probe Was Extended By A Court Which Lacked Competent Jurisdiction: Bombay HC [read order]
01/12/2021
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
In its detailed order granting default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj the Bombay High Court said that Additional Sessions Judge of Pune KD Vadane was not authorized to extend the time for Pune Police to file the charge sheet under provision of the UAPA Act on November 26, 2018 and therefore she was entitled for default bail. Read more/read judgement
Bombay HC grants default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj, but declines the same to eight other accused
01/12/2021
The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmaj and Paras Nath Singh
The Bombay High Court grants default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj in the Bhima Koregaon case on the ground that the court which took cognizance of the chargesheet against her was not competent, while it denied the same to the other accused in the case, because they did not claim their right to default bail in time. Paras Nath Singh and Sabah Gurmaj write about the High Court’s application of the principles of default bail in these cases. Read more
BREAKING: Bombay HC Grants Default Bail To Sudha Bharadwaj; Refuses Bail To 8 Other Accused
BREAKING: Bombay HC Grants Default Bail To Sudha Bharadwaj; Refuses Bail To 8 Other Accused
01/12/2021
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted default bail to lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad caste violence case.
However, the Court rejected the bail applications of the 8 other accused Sudhir Dawale, Dr P Varavara Rao, Rona Wilson, Advocate Surendra Gadling, Professor Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira. They were arrested between June – August 2018. Read more
Sudha Bharadwaj granted default bail by Bombay High Court; plea of 8 others rejected
01/12/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Sudha Bharadwaj and 8 others had challenged the jurisdiction of the Pune Sessions Judge in 2019 who they submitted was not the Special NIA judge and hence not competent to hear their applications under UAPA.
In a significant development, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed the default bail plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused advocate Sudha Bharadwaj [Sudha Bharadwaj v. National Investigation Agency]. Read more
32 civil society organisations from across Asia, the Pacific and Europe have called on the Indian government and courts to immediately and unconditionally release “human rights defenders” including Khurram Parvez and Sudha Bharadwaj, and to repeal the “unjust law” UAPA. They also demand bail and compensation for those jailed under UAPA but never tried, or the high proportion found not guilty.
The full statement, signed by groups in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Spain, Australia, Pakistan, Taiwan, the Netherlands and others, follows. Read full statement
Poet Varavara Rao’s interim medical bail extended till December 6
VV Rao walks out of Hospital in March 2021. Pic: Indira Jaising
Poet Varavara Rao’s interim medical bail extended till December 6
29/11/2021
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The bench extended the time for Rao to surrender as the NIA failed to get him medically examined at Mumbai’s Nanavati hospital in compliance with a court order.
Poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, need not surrender to the Taloja Jail authorities until December 6, the Bombay High Court said on Monday, according to PTI. Read more
Bombay High Court directs NIA to take Varavara Rao to private hospital for medical examination
29/11/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Due to confusion on who would bear the expense for Rao’s medical examination, the examination could not be completed.
The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take Bhima Koregaon accused Varavara Rao to a private hospital for medical examination at the expense of the agency. Read more
Constitutional Conduct Group: Open Letter to Citizens of India
Constitutionalconduct.com / by former civil servants of the All India and Central Services
Dear fellow citizens,
We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India…
It would be pertinent to recall here that the term “fourth-generation warfare” is normally employed in relation to a conflict where the state is fighting non-state actors, such as terror groups and insurgents. Civil society now finds itself placed in this company. Earlier, the term “Urban Naxal” was being used to denigrate individual human rights activists. Clearly, under the New Doval Doctrine, people like Father Stan Swamy would become the arch enemy of the Indian state and the prime concern and target of its security forces. Read full statement
‘This fight is not just about Father Stan Swamy’: Father Mascarenhas
‘Father Stan was concerned about other innocents who may be implicated and put inside without the slightest proof, the way he was.’
Father Mascarenhas, the former principal of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, tells Jyoti Punwani why even though Father Swamy is no more, the legal fight to prove that the 84-year-old priest from Jharkhand was not what the State portrayed him to be, is important. Read more
