The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case accused Mahesh Raut, citing medical reasons.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order while hearing Raut’s petition challenging his continued incarceration despite the Bombay High Court having already granted him bail.
Senior advocate C.U. Singh, appearing for Raut, informed the bench that the activist was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and required specialised medical care not available in prison or at JJ Hospital where he had been examined. Taking note of these submissions, the bench said, “The applicant is seeking interim bail on medical grounds coupled with the fact that he was actually granted bail (by the Bombay High Court), we are inclined to grant medical bail for a period of six weeks.”
The Bombay High Court had allowed Raut’s bail plea but stayed its own order for a week at the request of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The Supreme Court subsequently extended the stay on his release, keeping him in custody until now.
Raut is one of several activists and cultural workers facing charges in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case. The Elgar Parishad conclave was held in December 2017 at Pune’s Shaniwarwada fort, where investigators allege provocative speeches triggered the violence at Koregaon-Bhima on January 1, 2018.
Alongside Raut, several other activists, including members of Kabir Kala Manch, have been arrested under similar allegations. Cultural activist Sagar Gorkhe, also known as Jagtap, has been in custody since September 2020 on accusations of raising provocative slogans at the conclave.
The bench is also expected to hear the bail plea of Jyoti Jagtap, another cultural activist arrested in 2020 in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
