The Bombay high court on Friday refused to grant bail to lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima case being probed by the National Investigation Agency.
A bench led by Justice RD Dhanuka rejected an appeal filed by Bharadwaj in June this year, whereby she had challenged a special court’s order that denied her bail on health grounds.
Bharadwaj, 58, had approached the HC seeking bail, saying that she suffered from chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
She had said these co-morbidities put her at a higher risk of contracting corona virus while at the Byculla women’s prison where an inmate had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.
The court, however, noted the submissions made by the NIA and the Maharashtra government that the prison authorities were taking all precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and that they were providing necessary medical care to Bharadwaj for her comorbidities.
NIA counsel, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, also told the court that if at any time, Bharadwaj’s condition needed further treatment or if she was required to be admitted to a hospital, even a private one, the state would provide for the same.
Bharadwaj has been lodged in the Byculla women’s prison since September 2018 following her arrest in the case.
The case pertains to the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune district on December 31, 2017. It is alleged that speeches made by some activists at the conclave led to violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on outskirts of Pune city the next day.
– PTI
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