Bhima Koregaon: Supreme Court grants interim bail to Mahesh Raut to attend grandmother's final rites

The Supreme Court on Friday granted two weeks of interim bail to Mahesh Raut, who is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, to allow him attend the ceremonies relating to the last rites of his grandmother [National Investigation Agency v. Mahesh Sitaram Raut and anr]..A Vacation Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti said the bail would commence on June 26 and end on July 10."Taking into account the period of incarceration underwent, we grant two weeks interim bail to applicant which may commence from June 26,2024 and end on July 10, 2024. Terms and conditions of release will be stated by NIA Special Court. NIA can request trial court to impose stringent conditions. The applicant shall surrender on July 10," the Court ordered.The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier opposed the interim bail application, saying that Raut was involved in serious offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. "What is the necessity to approach this court?" the NIA counsel asked. However, the Court said that since his bail has been stayed by the top court, the NIA Court cannot intervene. .Pertinently, Raut had been granted regular bail by the Bombay High Court last year. However, the High Court itself had stayed the order for a week after NIA sought time to file an appeal against the same before the Supreme Court.The NIA then moved an appeal before the Supreme Court which extended the stay further. Raut was arrested in June 2018 and has been in custody since..Before Raut approached the High Court for bail, a special NIA court had rejected his bail plea in November 2021. In arguments before the High Court, Raut had submitted that he is a forest rights activist and a former fellow of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Rural Development Programme. The NIA opposed the bail plea, alleging that Raut recruited young students from colleges into the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The NIA's counsel argued that there was evidence to show that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) had given Raut ₹5 lakhs, along with co-accused Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale.The High Court, however, granted him bail in September 2023 after observing that merely because a co-accused has claimed that he handed over money to Raut, it would not make him a recipient of the same as there was nothing else to corroborate the said claim. This bail order was then stayed.