After being in custody for five years, former Delhi University professor Hany Babu has been granted bail by the Bombay High Court. He was held in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, which preceded the Bhima-Koregaon violence.
A personal bond of Rs. 1 lakh was taken by the court along with sureties by a Division Bench comprising Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice Ranjitsinha R. Bhonsale. The court said that his long imprisonment without trial is a violation of an Indian citizen's fundamental right to have a rapid trial under Article 21 of the Constitution, The Hindu reported.
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What were the charges against Hany Babu?
Hany Babu was accused by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) on grounds of conspiring to conduct Maoist activities as a part of the banned CPI (Maoist) party. On 31 December 2017, he allegedly delivered provocative speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave, which has been accused of setting off the subsequent violence near the Bhima-Koregaon war memorial.
Who still remains behind bars in the case?
A total of 16 individuals were arrested by the Pune Police in connection to the violence, which included the likes of now deceased Father Stan Swamy. Father Swamy died in custody in July 2021. Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Anand Teltumbde, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferreira, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale and Gautam Navlakha have been granted bail.
With the release of Hany Babu, advocate Surendra Gadling and activists Sagar Gokhale and Ramesh Gaichor remain the ones still behind bars, awaiting release.
