The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Rona Wilson, a researcher, and Sudhir Dhawale, an activist, who were arrested in 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. The decision was made by a division bench comprising Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata, who cited the prolonged duration of their incarceration and the slow pace of the trial proceedings as significant factors in their ruling.
Both Wilson and Dhawale have been in jail since their arrests, with the special court yet to frame charges against them. Their defense, led by lawyers Mihir Desai and Sudeep Pasbola, highlighted the undue delay in the trial process. In granting bail, the High Court emphasized that it was not addressing the merits of the case at this stage but was concerned with the procedural delays affecting the accused’s rights.
As part of their bail conditions, Wilson and Dhawale are required to each post a surety of Rs one lakh and must regularly appear before the special NIA court where their trial is ongoing. The bench also noted the extensive list of over 300 witnesses, which suggests that a conclusion of the trial is unlikely in the near future.
The Elgar Parishad case originated from events at a conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017, where speeches allegedly provoked violence in Koregaon-Bhima the following day. Pune police initially claimed that the event was organized with Maoist support, a charge later pursued by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after it took over the investigation.
Among the 16 individuals arrested in this high-profile case, several have been granted bail over time. Rona Wilson was apprehended in June 2018 at his residence in Delhi, characterized by investigative agencies as a key figure among urban Maoists. Sudhir Dhawale, arrested earlier, was accused of being an active member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
