New Delhi: Dalit rights activist Anand Teltumbde has moved Bombay High Court seeking closure of the case against him pertaining to the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018.
When Teltumbde’s plea before the High Court came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and M.S. Modak, Justice Kotwal recused himself from the matter, reported Bar and Bench.
Earlier, on May 10, 2024, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court had rejected Teltumbde’s plea for discharge from the case.
Justice Kotwal said he had heard and decided bail pleas of a few other accused in the same case in his capacity as a single judge and was thus recusing himself.
“In this matter, one of us (Sarang V Kotwal, J, sitting as a single Judge, had decided three bail applications (by Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves) wherein various provisions of law were discussed. Therefore, propriety demands that the matter be heard on all aspects by a different bench. In this case, Sarang V Kotwal, J is recusing from hearing this Appeal and other matters arising out of the 2018 FIR registered with Vishrambaug police station, Pune,” said the High Court order, reported The Indian Express.
Back in 2019, Justice Kotwal had rejected the bail pleas by Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves.
Thereafter, the bench directed the High Court Registry to not place any matter arising out of the FIR in the Bhima Koregaon case before any bench of which Justice Kotwal is a member.
In his plea before the Bombay High Court, Teltumbde has challenged the trial court’s approach and has argued that the court failed to consider observations made by the Bombay High Court in its bail order.
