Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Dec 4: In a significant development, the Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to former Delhi University professor Hany Babu, over five years after his arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
A division bench comprising Justices A S Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Bhosale allowed Babu’s bail plea. The detailed order is yet to be released. The court also declined the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) request to stay the bail, which would have allowed it to appeal before the Supreme Court.
Hany Babu had sought bail citing prolonged incarceration without trial. His lawyer, Yug Mohit Chaudhary, highlighted that the charges had not yet been formally framed and the discharge application was still pending before the trial court.
The NIA had accused Babu of being a co-conspirator in spreading Maoist ideology under the instructions of leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation. He was arrested in July 2020 and had been lodged at Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai.
The case stems from alleged inflammatory speeches delivered during the Elgar Parishad conclave at Shaniwarwada, Pune, on December 31, 2017. The police claimed these speeches triggered violence near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial the following day, resulting in one death and multiple injuries.
The case initially investigated by Pune police was later taken over by the NIA and involves more than a dozen activists and academicians as accused.