Bombay HC asks accused Elgar Parishad case Shoma Sen to approach special court for bail

Bombay High Court directed activist Shoma Sen, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case currently in judicial custody, to approach the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court for bail.

A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and P D Naik disposed of Sen's plea in the HC seeking bail and directed her to file a bail application in the special court, noting the trial court didn't have a chance to consider the plea post the filing of a chargesheet.

The bench directed Sen to approach the special court so that the (special) court can consider the supplementary chargesheet. In the event of the court rejecting her bail plea, then the HC can take benefit of the observations of the lower court on the charge sheet, the bench said.

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

The probe in the case, in which more than a dozen activists and academicians have been named as accused, was later transferred to the NIA.

The HC bench on Tuesday noted the special NIA court did not have a chance to consider Sen's application after the chargesheet was filed in the case. In her plea, Sen had claimed she had been implicated in the case.