The special sessions judge AK Lahoti rejected the plea, observing that the allegations against Raut were serious in nature
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday rejected the plea for temporary bail of tribal rights activist and researcher Mahesh Raut — arrested in 2018 for his alleged role in the Elgar Parishad case. The activist had sought temporary bail for two weeks to go to Gadchiroli after the death of his grandmother. Read more
Why has Adivasi land rights scholar-activist Mahesh Raut not been released yet from prison even though he was given bail in 2023? en | 1:35 | 2024 Watch video
The Wire / by Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling and Mahesh Raut
Intimations on the sixth year of continuing incarceration of the BK-16.
We live in a moment where truth is treason. Under the fascist onslaught of Brahmanical Hindutva, truth has become consumed with fear – the fear of being watched, being surveilled, being criminalised, neutralised, or even eliminated. But the fear, at the end, is itself a whistleblower.
We, the BK 16, known after the eponymous Bhima Koregaon case, complete six years of incarceration on June 6, 2024 under the stringent anti-terror law, UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act], where the onus is on the accused to prove their innocence; under heavy odds against the Modi dispensation that dubs speaking truth to power treason, anti-Hindu, an act of terror. Read full statement
by Campaign Against State Repression (May 27):
6 Years Of Wrongful Incarceration In Bhima Koregaon case
JOIN Demonstration at Jantar Mantar 6 June
Release All Political Prisoners !!
Repeal UAPA !!
Repeal NIA !!
The Bhima Koregaon case, in which several activists and academicians have been incarcerated under the draconian Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act 1967 over alleged Maoist links, raises a big question mark on India’s civil liberties framework. The fact that the trial has not yet commenced for nearly six years makes one question the seriousness of the allegations concerning national security. Moreover, the doubts about the sustainability of the allegations are fortified by the repeated observations made by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court in the judgments granting bail to some of the accused. Read more
Why has Adivasi land rights scholar-activist Mahesh Raut not been released yet from prison even though he was given bail in 2023? en | 1:35 | 2024 Watch video
Bhima-Koregaon accused Mahesh Raut and Sagar Gorkhe clear law exam even as their own controversial case drags on
Two of the 16 activists charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the Bhima-Koregaon case cleared their Common Entrance Test (CET) for law college admission while in jail, clinging to hope for bail and an eventual declaration of innocence by the court. For the past six years, Mahesh Raut and Sagar Gorkhe, both 36, have spent their days in Taloja jail surrounded by undertrials. Their families and friends said this experience motivated them to become lawyers, providing legal aid to those in need. Read more
Bhima Koregaon case: Two prisoners pass law entrance test
08/05/2024
Hindustan Times / by Sabah Virani
Mahesh Raut and Sagar Gorkhe hold master’s degrees from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Yashawantrao Chavhan Maharashtra Open University
With only the aid of old books from the Taloja Central Prison’s library, Mahesh Raut, arrested in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case, scored 99.79% in the state common entrance test (CET) for law. Sagar Gorkhe, a fellow accused, also passed the test, scoring 57.7%. The results were declared on May 3. Read more
Elgar Parishad case accused Surendra Gadling filed an appeal challenging a June 28, 2022 order of the special NIA court, that refused to grant default bail to him.
The Bombay High Court on Friday, reserved its order on the default bail petition of accused Surendra Gadling in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case. Read more
Stay on bail for long period affects personal liberty and rights, feel experts
09/04/2024
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
Elgaar Parishad case accused Mahesh Raut and Gautam Navlakha remain in jail for over four months since grant of bail by the Bombay High Court.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to activist and Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, arrested six years ago in the Elgaar Parishad case. Two of her co-accused Mahesh Raut and Gautam Navlakha who were granted bail six and four months ago, respectively, by the Bombay High Court, continue to remain in jail awaiting their bail hearings in the SC which has stayed their release till it hears appeals against their bail. Read more
By @apeksha_9 (April 5): Revolutionary Salutes to Prof. Shoma Sen! Free All the Activists wrongfully incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case. Repeal UAPA.
As Shoma Sen gets bail, what is the status of other accused in Elgaar Parishad case?
05/04/2024
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak, Omkar Gokhale
Eight accused, including prominent activists, lawyers, and academics, have now been given bail. Two of them are yet to be released from custody. The case dates back to the beginning of 2018, but the trial is yet to commence
… Among the 16 individuals arrested in the case, one – Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old-priest and tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand – passed away in custody in July 2021.
Before Sen, seven other accused have been given bail. Two of these eight accused, however, are yet to be released from custody because the NIA has appealed the High Court’s bail orders in the SC. Read more
Thread by BehanBox / @BehanBox (Apr 5):
(1/5) Today the Supreme Court granted bail to women’s rights activist #ShomaSen, accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in the #BhimaKoregaon violence case. #bhimakoregaon
…
(5/5) 8 of the activists, namely Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Mahesh Raut, Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and Hany Babu, continue to languish in prison without trial.
Bhima Koregaon: The process continues to clot as punishment as another year passes by
01/01/2024
The Leaflet / Arif Ayaz Parrey, 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. Read more
‘Never Adjusted Your Stand’: 9 Elgar Accused Congratulate Anand Teltumbde From Jail
05/02/2024
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
Their co-accused who is out on bail, Teltumbde has been conferred the Basava National Award – Karnataka’s highest honour.
… Although a few have been granted bail on medical and technical grounds, nine remain behind bars at Byculla and Taloja prisons in Maharashtra. The latter have written a congratulatory letter to co-accused Dr Anand Teltumbde, on his being given the Karnataka government’s highest award, the Basava Award.
The letter, which the prisoners released through their lawyers, is being produced below. Read more
‘A small streak of light’: Seven BK prisoners congratulate Anand Teltumbde on award
04/02/2024
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The writer, who is on bail in the same case, was honoured with the Basava Award by the Karnataka government on January 31.
The seven people who are still in jail in the Bhima Koregaon case have congratulated their co-accused Anand Teltumbde for having been granted the Karnataka government’s Basava Award on January 31 and pushing “forward the wheel of democratic revolution of annihilating the caste system”. Read more
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. Read more
The stay on the bail Orders of Gautam Navlakha and Mahesh Raut, incarcerated under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, creates an unconstitutional and unjust barrier for the fulfillment of their fundamental rights, laments the author. Read more
Video by InSAF India / @IndInsaf (May 23, 2024)
