The Supreme Court has postponed the bail hearing of advocate Surendra Gadling to the second week of January in relation to the 2016 Surjagarh mine arson case. The decision came during a session on Wednesday where a bench comprised of Justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar granted additional time for Gadling’s counsel to review responses from the state of Maharashtra.
The case stems from a 2016 incident where Maoist rebels reportedly torched 76 vehicles at the Surajagarh iron ore mines in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, as part of a protest against mining operations. Gadling, an advocate by profession, is accused of aiding the Maoists by providing them with secret governmental information and maps, as well as encouraging local opposition to the mining activities.
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had previously denied bail to Gadling on January 31, 2023, citing the severity and prima facie truth of the accusations against him. He faces charges under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
This legal ordeal for Gadling also ties into allegations of his involvement in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. This case relates to inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad event in Pune on December 31, 2017, which allegedly incited violence the following day at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.
