Elgar Parishad Case: SC Allows Hany Babu to Approach Trial or High Court For Bail
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 16) granted liberty to former Delhi University Professor Hany Babu to approach either the trial court or the high court to seek bail in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad conspiracy case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act over alleged Maoist links, LiveLaw reported.
The top court also granted him permission to seek revival of his earlier special leave petition (SLP) filed in the SC which was withdrawn.
A bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice PB Varale dismissed Babu’s miscellaneous application seeking a clarification that his earlier withdrawal of the SLP did not prevent the high court from hearing his bail matter.
Babu had withdrawn his bail plea before the SC on May 3 last year in the case as he decided to move the Bombay high court, which granted bail to five other accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case.
According to news agency PTI, when Babu moved the high court, it said that the Supreme Court's order permitting the withdrawal of his plea did not reserve his liberty to move the high court and asked him to seek a clarification from the top court.
On Wednesday, Babu's counsel submitted to the top court that he had undergone five years as an undertrial and withdrawn the special leave petition to move the high court.
Hany Babu was arrested in July 2020 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under UAPA charges over alleged links to Maoists in the Bhima Koregaon case.
The NIA’s case was against 16 individuals, which includes human rights activists, lawyers, and academics, is that they are all part of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation.
So far, the Bombay high court has granted bail to Rona Wilson, and activists Sudhir Dhawale and Sudha Bharadwaj, while the Supreme Court has granted bail to P. Varavara Rao on medical grounds, and Shoma Sen, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira on merits.
However, Hany Babu has yet to be granted bail. In September 2022, the high court had denied bail to Babu. Earlier, in 2021, his family and lawyers had accused authorities of denying him medical treatment despite his complaints of an acute eye infection, pain and gradual loss of vision.
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