In a significant development, the Supreme Court has granted conditional bail to Professor Shoma Sen, a prominent women’s rights activist, in the Elgar Parishad case. The decision, made on Friday, brings relief to Sen, who has been accused of having Maoist links and has been incarcerated in connection with the case.
As per the conditions laid out by the Supreme Court, during her bail period, Professor Sen is prohibited from leaving Maharashtra without prior notification to the special court. She is required to provide her mobile number and ensure that it remains operational. Additionally, to facilitate constant location tracking, her device must have GPS enabled at all times. Any violation of these terms could lead to the prosecution seeking the revocation of her bail.
Professor Sen’s arrest on June 6, 2018, followed the outbreak of caste-based violence in Bhima Koregaon, Pune. She was among several individuals apprehended by Pune City Police, including Rona Wilson from Delhi, Sudhir Dhawale from Mumbai, and lawyers Surendra Gadling and Mahesh Raut from Nagpur.
The case also involved Father Stan Swamy, a Roman Catholic priest dedicated to the rights of Jharkhand’s tribal and marginalized communities since the 1990s. Swamy, arrested in the same case, passed away in Mumbai’s Holy Family Hospital in July 2021.
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Born on April 26, 1937, in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, Swamy pursued postgraduate studies in Theology and Sociology at the University of Manila in the 1970s. He later studied in Brussels, where he was influenced by Archbishop Helder Camara’s work with Brazil’s poor. Swamy’s significant contributions include his tenure as the director of the Indian Social Institute in Bengaluru from 1975 to 1986 and his extensive activism in Jharkhand, advocating for the rights of indigenous people and those displaced by development projects without consent.
