Bombay HC grants bail to two activists in Elgar Parishad case
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case, on the grounds of parity, noting that other accused have been granted similar relief.
Gorkhe and Gaichor were arrested in September 2020 and are presently lodged at the Taloja prison.
The duo is accused of being active members of the banned CPI (Maoist) group.
A bench, headed by Justice A S Gadkari, noted that several other accused in the case have been granted bail on the grounds of long incarceration and the possibility of the trial in the case not commencing in the near future.
"Hence on the ground of parity, the two appellants (Gorkhe and Gaichor) too deserve to be released on bail," it said.
The duo has been directed to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh each and to attend the National Investigation Agency's office once a month.
At least 16 people, including prominent lawyers, activists, and academics, were booked in connection with allegedly provocative speeches that were delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017.
According to the police, the speeches triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima, on the outskirts of Pune city, the next day.
The Pune police, which initially probed the case, claimed that Maoists had backed the conclave. The NIA later took over the probe into the case.
All except one accused, Surendra Gadling, have now been granted bail in the case.
Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old priest and tribal rights activist, died while in custody in July 2021, awaiting trial.
The other accused in the case include Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Jyoti Jagtao and Mahesh Raut.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
