Bhima Koregaon accused Hany Babu moves Bombay High Court for bail

Delhi University professor Hany Babu has approached the Bombay High Court again seeking bail in the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018. 

A Division Bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande has directed the Registry to take appropriate steps to list the matter after being informed that related bail applications were decided by a coordinate Bench.

Earlier this year, a Bench led by Justice AS Gadkari had denied default bail to others accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, namely Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale and Shoma Sen.

Babu was arrested on July 28, 2020, on charges of being a member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and being involved in an alleged conspiracy to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai.

In February 2022, a trial court in Maharashtra rejected the bail plea filed by him and three others. In September 2022, the Bombay High Court upheld the trial court's decision to reject Babu's bail plea.

This was challenged by Babu before the Supreme Court. In January this year, the top court sought the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) response to Babu's regular bail plea.

However, in May this year, Babu withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court citing a change in circumstances and indicated that he would move a fresh bail plea before the Bombay High Court.