[BREAKING] Bhima Koregaon: Sudha Bharadwaj granted default bail by Bombay High Court; plea of 8 others rejected

In a significant development, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed the default bail plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused advocate Sudha Bharadwaj [Sudha Bharadwaj v. National Investigation Agency]..The Court also directed Bharadwaj to approach the special National Investigation Agency court which has to set out the conditions for bail.The Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar, however, rejected the plea filed by eight other accused Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.Bharadwaj has been in jail since August 2018 when she was arrested from Delhi and taken to Mumbai where she has been lodged.Bharadwaj, a lawyer and activist who has worked for rights of tribal communities and others in Chhattisgarh, was teaching at the prestigious National Law University, Delhi at the time of her arrest..The Bench pronounced its verdict today in two pleas:- one filed by Sudha Bharadwaj seeking default bail under Code of Criminal Procedure on the ground that Pune Sessions Judges KD Vadane and RM Pande had no jurisdiction to pass orders in the case;- second filed by Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira challenging orders by Pande take cognisance of the chargesheet and rejecting the default bail application under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure..Bharadwaj’s plea filed through advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry, submitted that upon expiry of 90 days of detention, there was no valid or lawful order extending time for the filing of the chargesheet, and hence Bharadwaj is entitled to default bail.Chaudhry relied upon certain replies received from the Deputy Registrar of High Court under the Right to Information Act which stated that Sessions Judges Vadane and Pande had not been appointed as special judges under the NIA Act. Instead, three other judges had been appointed as special judges by the Maharashtra government..Maharashtra government while opposing the plea stated that as long as the investigation was not assigned to NIA, the proceedings pertaining to the investigation could continue before the regular courts.Among other grounds for opposing Bharadwaj's petition, NIA argued that there was a binding judgment of the Bombay High Court that NIA court comes into the picture only after the NIA takes over the investigation of a case.Both the respondents argued that there was no prejudice caused to Bharadwaj even if the orders were allegedly passed by a court not having jurisdiction.The Bench reserved the verdict on August 4, 2021.In the other plea filed through advocate R Satyanarayanan, the accused had pointed out three notifications issued by the Maharashtra government which said that special court had been constituted for Pune city.As per the notification, judge Pande had not been designated as special judge under NIA, it was contended.From the period of arrest till the date of taking cognizance of the chargesheet, several interlocutory applications were filed and all the applications were decided by the special judge.The applications raising the issue of jurisdiction had never been decided, and the proceeding thus suffered from gross impropriety, it was submitted..Maharashtra government opposed the bail plea, making two fold submissions:That the cognisance of the chargesheet by the court was not a relevant aspect while hearing a default bail application; the aspect that needed to be considered was whether the chargesheet had been filed on time or not. In the present case the chargesheet was filed within the extended time period granted by the Court.That Section 16 of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act clearly used the words "may take cognizance" implying that the same was not mandatory.NIA adopted State’s submissions, and added that no other order except the order refusing default bail was challenged in the petition..The Bench had reserved the verdict on September 1, 2021..The Bhima Koregaon case stems from an event known as Elgar Parishad event organised on December 31, 2017, by a group of persons including activists and retired Supreme Court judge Justice PB Sawant and retired Bombay High Court judge Justice BG Kolse-Patil.The event marked the 200th anniversary of the victory of Dalit soldiers in a battle against a local Brahmin Peshwa ruler.The 2017 event was marred by violent clashes between Dalit and Maratha groups which led to at least one death and injuries to several others. Consequently, three First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed in the case.The FIR of January 8, 2018 registered against Leftist groups with Maoist links was the one vigorously pursued by the authorities. It forms the basis of the entire Bhima Koregaon case which led to arrest of 16 accused and 3 chargesheets.The trial in the case is yet to begin..[Read Judgment]