The Special NIA Court of Mumbai has rejected the demand of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to cancel the bail of four accused in the Elgar Parishad case. The court said that the agency could not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the four had violated their bail conditions.
Those whose bail was sought to be canceled include activists P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bhardwaj and Arun Ferreira. NIA had also demanded re-arrest of these four.
Actually, NIA had alleged that the four accused would be arrested on January 19, 2026. Mumbai Had attended a meeting held on the rooftop of the Press Club. This meeting was organized to promote the ideology of the banned organization CPI i.e. Maoist. NIA had claimed that the further strategy of the urban Naxal movement was discussed in the meeting. The presence of the accused was a violation of their bail conditions.
As a condition of bail, the accused were prevented from contacting and interacting with co-accused in the case or people involved in similar activities. On this basis, NIA had demanded cancellation of bail.
The accused said – did not contact anyone
All four accused rejected the NIA’s allegations in the court. He said that in the meeting, issues related to the life and cases of jail prisoners were discussed. There was also discussion on the further steps of co-accused Gautam Navlakha after he went to Delhi. Apart from this, the ongoing case against accused Surendra Gadling, the possibility of his release and his medical situation in jail were discussed.
The accused said that they had not called any other co-accused in the meeting. They were also not aware that other co-accused had been called in the meeting. He did not contact any co-accused or anyone associated with similar activities.
The court said – only presence was visible in CCTV
Special NIA court judge Chakor S Baviskar heard the case. The court also saw the CCTV footage of the meeting. Although there was no sound in the footage. Therefore it could not be known what exactly was discussed in the meeting.
The court said that the mere presence of the accused and co-accused does not prove that they had gathered there to engage in any prohibited activity. Mere presence cannot be linked to propagation of Maoist ideology.
The court also said that even if the case or co-accused were discussed in the meeting, it cannot be considered a violation of the bail conditions on this basis alone. The judge said that very strong and concrete circumstances are necessary to cancel the bail. Bail can be canceled only when there is a serious situation like interference in the judicial process, misuse of bail or absconding of the accused.
Also read: Major action by NIA in the murder of 6 Naga civilians in Manipur, two more accused arrested
The court rejected all the applications of NIA. However, the accused were also cautioned. The court said that they should be more cautious in future. Any such situation should be avoided, which could lead to allegations of violation of bail conditions.
Elgar Parishad case is going on since 2018
The Elgar Parishad case came to light in the year 2018. In this case, the accused are accused of having contacts with the banned CPI Maoist organization and being associated with its activities. The investigating agencies have also described some of the accused as ‘Urban Naxal’.
All the accused in the case are still on bail. However, the trial has not started yet in this case. After the latest order, all four accused have got relief.
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