By using security laws, deploying surveillance technology, and leveraging potent national interest narratives, Narendra Modi’s Hindu-first government has targeted critics and eroded the rule of law in India—often in violation of the Constitution, using legal loopholes and grey areas. Through the lens of the notorious Bhima Koregaon case, we investigate these tactics in-depth, and report how citizens are fighting to preserve the world’s largest democracy. Read more
Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaichor
Plan to end Modi raj with Rajiv Gandhi type incident and other reasons NIA Court refused bail to 4 accused [read orders]
22/02/2022
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Special NIA Judge rejected regular bail applications of Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Associate Professor Hany Babu.
The Special Court under National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act rejected bail applications of four accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018 relying upon a letter written by the accused which mentioned about ending the Modi-raj in the country. Read more
No bail; ‘prima facie evidence Hany Babu part of Maoist outfit’: NIA Court
22/02/2022
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
“The same can be said to be sufficient to prima facie establish that the applicant was instrumental for the release of convict G N Saibaba, who was convicted for the activities of the CPI (M),” special Judge Dinesh E Kothalikar said in the detailed order made available on Monday.
IN ITS detailed order rejecting bail to Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, a special court has said that there is prima facie evidence that he was ‘actively involved’ in activities of banned organisation, CPI (Maoist). Read more
No hesitation to prima facie conclude that applicant was actively involved in activities of banned organisation: NIA Court
21/02/2022
Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter
A special court that last week denied bail to Delhi University’s associate professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon case, has said in its detailed order that if material on record is taken into consideration, there would be no hesitation to prima facie conclude that he was actively involved in activities of the banned organisation. Read more
Special NIA Court rejects former CM Fadnavis’ statement as evidence, denies bail to three Bhima Koregaon accused
19/02/2022
The Leaflet / by The Leaflet
A special National Investigative Agency (NIA) court denied bail on Monday to three persons accused in the Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) case and declined to consider former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ statement in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The court, while denying bail, maintained that the accused hatched a “serious conspiracy” to create unrest in the country.
The three accused — Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor — are musical performers, anti-caste activists and members of the cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch. Read more
Special NIA Court rejects former CM Fadnavis’ statement as evidence, denies bail to three Bhima Koregaon accused
19/02/2022
The Leaflet / by The Leaflet
A special National Investigative Agency (NIA) court denied bail on Monday to three persons accused in the Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) case and declined to consider former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ statement in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The court, while denying bail, maintained that the accused hatched a “serious conspiracy” to create unrest in the country. Read more
CM’s Statement On Presence Of Crowd With Saffron Flags During Bhima Koregaon Protest ‘Extraneous’: NIA Court While Rejecting Bail
17/02/2022
Live Law / by Sahrmeen Hakim
Fadnavis spoke about the unexpected presence of over 200-300 people holding saffron flags on the day of violence.
The NIA court has declined to consider Maharashtra’s ex-Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s statement in the State Legislative Assembly on the issue of caste violence at Bhima Koregaon while rejecting bail applications of three accused. The then Chief Minister had spoken on the floor of the house about the presence of around 200-300 people holding saffron flags, sloganeering at the place of the caste violence on January 1, 2018. Read more
Accused wanted to create unrest in country, says NIA court
17/02/2022
Hindustan Times / by Vinay Dalvi
Though the verdict was pronounced on Monday, the detailed order became available late in the evening on Wednesday.
“From the documents and letters placed on record, prima facie it can be gathered that the applicants along with other members of the banned organisation hatched a serious conspiracy to create unrest in the entire country and to overpower the government politically,” the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has said, while rejecting bail pleas of Kabir Kala Manch members Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor. Read more
Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)
hindi (en subtitles) | 2:20min | 2020
Before arresting them, NIA allegedly offered to let off Kabir Kala Manch musicians Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor if they admitted to Maoist links, to indict activists arrested in the #BhimaKoregaon case. Watch video
Special Judge DE Kothalikar rejected bail applications of Kabir Kala Manch members Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor and associate professor Hany Babu.
A Special Court in Maharashtra on Monday rejected the bail plea of four accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018 being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The members of the allegedly banned organization Kabir Kala Manch along with Babu were arrested by the NIA in 2020. Read more
Special NIA Court Refuses Bail To DU Associate Prof Hany Babu And Three Kabir Kala Manch Members
14/02/2022
Live Law / by Sharmee Hakim
Special Judge DE Kothalikar refused bail to Delhi University associate professor – Hany Babu, and members of cultural group Kabir Kala Manch members – Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap. The National Investigation Agency arrested Babu in July 2020 and the remaining three in September 2020. Read more
Hany Babu, three Kabir Kala Manch members denied bail in Bhima-Koregaon case
14/02/2022
Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil
A special court on Monday denied bail to four accused in the Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon case – Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu and Kabir Kala Manch members Sagar Gorkhe, Jyoti Jagtap and Ramesh Gaichor.
Gorkhe and Gaichor had sought bail on the grounds that they had been prosecuted in a similar case in 2014, in which they had secured bail from the Supreme Court. Read more
In Covid-hit India, where are the women? In Byculla Women’s Jail, awaiting trial, awaiting death
Women in and Beyond the Global / by Dan Moshenberg
When Covid hit India, the reports, and for some expectation, were that the State would consider pandemic measures, such as the need for social distancing, and would reduce the incarcerated populations. To no one’s great surprise, that did not happen generally, and in particular it did not happen in women’s jails and prisons. For example, the state of Maharashtra has 60 central and district jails. Of them, one, Byculla Women’s Jail, is the only one dedicated for women and children, but that doesn’t mean the conditions are in any way better. Byculla Women’s Jail has always been an overcrowded hellhole for women and children. Read more
Sudha Bharadwaj interview: ‘I hope I can begin practising in Mumbai’
21/02/2022
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
Among the conditions set for Bharadwaj’s bail was that the 60-year-old would not make any statement on the proceedings of the case. Recently, she got permission to leave Mumbai limits for Thane. Excerpts from an interview: Can you tell us about finding yourself in jail, first in the Yerwada Central Prison in Pune and then the Byculla Women’s Prison?
The first experience is quite frightening. It is an immediate loss of dignity, privacy and identity. Read more
Sudha Bharadwaj: ‘When inside, you see how cut off a prisoner is from legal remedies’
21/02/2022
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
Bharadwaj said one reason was that the remuneration given to lawyers on the legal aid panel was not sufficient.
Calling the experience of being in jail an eyeopener, trade unionist and human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj has said she hopes to work to improve legal aid for prisoners.
In an interview to The Indian Express, Bharadwaj, who was released on December 9 on bail, said she was considering filing a PIL on the matter. Read more
Youngest accused Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap move special court for bail
17/11/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap, two of the youngest accused in the case from 2018 have approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking regular bail.
Two of the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case from 2018, Mahesh Raut (34) and Jyoti Jagtap (32), have approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking regular bail. This is Jagtap’s first bail application. Read more
Special NIA court begins hearing bail applications of the youngest accused
17/11/2021
India Today / by Vidya
A Special NIA court began hearing bail applications of two of the youngest accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case on Wednesday.
One of the accused in the case, Mahesh Raut has filed a bail plea which was argued by advocate Vijay Hiremath…
Apart from these two accused, Hany Babu, Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe’s bail pleas will also come up for hearing. Read more
Another COVID-19 Outbreak in Byculla Prison Highlights Lessons That Haven’t Been Learnt
Another COVID-19 Outbreak in Byculla Prison Highlights Lessons That Haven’t Been Learnt
28/09/2021
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
Rights activists Shoma Sen and Sudha Bharadwaj are lodged in this prison.
On September 17, a local health post in Mumbai’s E ward was notified about a sudden increase in “fever” cases inside Byculla women’s prison. The cause of the fever was unknown, but the prison authorities had seen this pattern many times in the past year. The ward authorities set up a fever camp two days later, on September 19. The initial figures suggested three women were down with COVID-19. In subsequent camps, another 36 people – including six children under the age of six – tested positive. The jail, with close to 300 women prisoners, was soon sealed. Read more
43 inmates, including at least four children, test positive in Mumbai’s Byculla prison
26/09/2021
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The jail has not been declared a containment zone yet.
The number of inmates who contracted the coronavirus disease in Mumbai’s Byculla prison rose to 43 on Sunday. This includes at least four children, who continue to stay with their mothers…
The prison holds inmates like Elgar Parishad accused Sudha Bharadwaj, Jyoti Jagtap and Shoma Sen. Read more
Press Release
Friends and Family of Sudha Bharadwaj are extremely worried over the alarming and disturbing news of the rising Covid-19 infection in Byculla women’s jail forcing the authorities to seal the premise.
Last week, in a prison supervised phone conversation Koel Sen had with her mother Shoma Sen, former professor of English from Nagpur University, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and incarcerated for the last three years in Byculla prison without trial, it was informed that 20 inmates from the prison were infected, which appears to have now risen to 39!
Three women political prisoners, Shoma Sen, Sudha Bharadwaj and Jyoti Jagtap, all arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case for the past three years without trial and bail, are housed in the women’s prison of Byculla jail. Alarmingly, two out of the 20 infected are from the barrack that houses 40 senior women inmates, including 61-year-old Shoma Sen and 59-year-old Sudha Bharadwaj. The barrack of 40 senior citizen women inmates is fully vaccinated, however the virus infection of the two fully vaccinated women has sent fear and concern to all the women inside the prison and their family waiting for them in their homes. …
The crushing power of street performances from the margins:
A profile of Kabir Kala Manch’s Sagar Gorkhe, Jyoti Jagtap and Ramesh Gaichor
By The Polis Project and maraa
Kabir Kala Manch
Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) is an urban grass-roots performance group at the helm of a socio-political movement rooted in cultural struggles of the most marginalized communities in India. KKM was formed by working-class youth from low-income Dalit and Bahujan caste communities in Pune as a response to the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat. Read more
