The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it will hear the bail application of activist Jyoti Jagtap, implicated in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, in conjunction with the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) appeal against another co-accused’s bail. This decision marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the controversial case.
Jyoti Jagtap, arrested in September 2020, has been in custody for nearly four years. She is among 16 individuals arrested in connection to the case, with seven already granted bail and one deceased. The case against her includes allegations of involvement in a larger conspiracy with the banned CPI (Maoist) group, notably during the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017.
During the conclave, which took place at Pune’s historic Shaniwarwada fort, Jagtap and other members of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) are accused of delivering “aggressive and highly provocative slogans.” These events, according to the NIA, incited violence in Koregaon-Bhima on January 1, 2018.
The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Aravind Kumar, was informed by the Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, representing the NIA, of the pending challenge to the bail granted to Mahesh Raut, another accused in the same case. This related case will be considered alongside Jagtapโs plea, which challenges an October 17, 2022, high court ruling that denied her bail on grounds of a “prima facie true” case against her.
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The high court had previously stated that Jagtap played an active role in the KKM, which allegedly used the stage at the Elgar Parishad event to incite disruptive activities. Despite arguments from Jagtapโs counsel that no incriminating evidence was recovered from her and that charges are yet to be framed, the high court upheld her custody based on the gravity of the accusations.
