Hany Babu gets bail after 5 years without trial in Bhima Koregaon case

The Bombay High Court on Thursday (December 4) granted bail to former Delhi University professor Hany Babu on the grounds of prolonged incarceration of more than five years without trial. A bench of Justices AS Gadkari and RR Bhonsale directed Babu, who is lodged at the Taloja Prison in Navi Mumbai, to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with sureties of the same amount.

Babu is one among the many intellectuals arrested across the country following the violence at the Bhima Koregaon war memorial in 2017 in Maharashtra. Babu was arrested in 2020 in connection with the case.

NIA's stay plea rejected

While the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought a stay on the bail order to appeal before the Supreme Court, the High Court refused the request, stating that Babu had been in jail for over five years. The court also noted that the trial in the case was unlikely to be completed soon.

Also Read: Hany Babu denied medical care in jail, say kin; urge Kerala CM to help

Babu had sought bail primarily on the ground of prolonged incarceration without trial. His counsel, Yug Mohit Chaudhary, had argued that the charges were yet to be framed and his discharge application was still pending before the trial court.

Allegations against Babu

The NIA has accused Hany Babu of being a co-conspirator in propagating Maoist activities and ideology on the instructions of leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) organisation. He was arrested in July 2020 in the case and was lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai.

Also Read: NIA arrests Delhi University professor Hany Babu in Bhima Koregaon case

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial located on the city's outskirts.

Bhima Koregaon case

During the violence, one person was killed, and several others were injured. Police arrested 16 people, including prominent intellectuals, in connection with the case in 2018. The NIA took over the investigation in January 2020.

Among those arrested were lawyers, activists and academics, who were accused of being members of the banned CPI (Maoist) and furthering the cause of the Maoists. Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old priest and tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand, was one of the arrested. In July 2021, Swamy passed away in custody.

Also Read: Bhima Koregaon case: NIA files chargesheet against eight accused

Ten accused, including Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale, and Rona Wilson, were earlier granted bail. Last month, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Jyoti Jagtap. Accused Mahesh Raut was also released on six-week medical bail by the Supreme Court, which was later extended.

However, lawyer Surendra Gadling, along with cultural artists and activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, are yet to be granted regular bail.

(With agency inputs)