Bhima Koregaon Case: Activists to Remain Under House Arrest For Four More Weeks, Supreme Court Declines SIT Probe

New Delhi, Sep 28: The Supreme Court on Friday passed an interim order in connection with the arrest of five activists and refused to order an SIT probe. The apex court said the activists will remain under house arrest for next four weeks. The top court also allowed the Maharashtra police to continue their investigation in the case.

On September 20, a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had reserved its verdict after final arguments by counsel for both parties, including senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Harish Salve and Additional Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta.

While Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar said the arrests was not made due to political dissent, Justice D Y Chandrachud dissented from the majority. Justice Chandrachud said "voices of opposition cannot be muzzled because it is a dissent", adding that an SIT should be constituted to probe the matter.

The five activists — Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha — have been under house arrest since August 29. They were arrested on August 28 by the Pune police in connection with an FIR lodged following a conclave—Elgar Parishad—held on December 31 last year that had later triggered violence at Bhima-Koregaon village.

Historian Romila Thapar, economists Prabhat Patnaik and Devaki Jain, sociology professor Satish Deshpande and human rights lawyer Maja Daruwala challenged the arrests of the activists and sought an independent probe into their arrests. The top court had said it would look into the case with a "hawk's eye" as "liberty cannot be sacrificed at the altar of conjectures".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 28, 2018 11:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).