New Delhi: After the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against the bail granted to scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde in the Elgar Parishad case, the top court agreed to hear the matter on Friday.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud took note of the submissions by solicitor general Tushar Mehta that the stay on the operation on the high court’s bail order is for a week only and the matter needed an urgent hearing.
The solicitor general, at the outset, said the NIA has filed the appeal and the plea has been numbered and may be listed for an urgent hearing.
“Let us hear this at 12:45 pm (today itself),” said the bench which also comprised Justices Hima Kohli and J.B. Pardiwala to which the law officer said, “My colleague, who is not present today, will argue. Please hear it (appeal) on Thursday.”
“We will hear it on Friday,” the CJI then said.
Lawyer Aparna Bhat, appearing for Teltumbde, said she was appearing on caveat and asked for a copy of the NIA’s plea. The SG said the copy will be provided to the counsel for the accused.
The Bombay high court on November 18 granted bail to Teltumbde noting that prima facie the only case made out against him relates to alleged association with a terror group and support given to it, for which the maximum punishment is 10 years in jail.
Teltumbde, 73, is the third accused of the total 16 arrested in the case to be released on bail. Poet Varavara Rao is currently out on bail on health grounds, and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj is out on default bail.
Alleging that the high court has conducted a roving inquiry and a mini-trial, the NIA in its plea before the top court said the high court perused the charges in the chargesheet in isolation and made observations that would influence the trial.
“The observations of the high court that no prima facie case is made out against the respondent herein is contrary to the observations made by this court in the case of the very same respondent seeking pre arrest bail…”
“The said order also fails to take into account the cumulative effect of all the earlier proceedings moved by the present respondent in the instant case where all reliefs have been denied by each forum so approached holding that there is a prima facie case as against the respondent herein,” the plea said.
The plea contended that the high court has conducted a roving inquiry and a mini trial by intricately examining the evidence on record which is contrary to the law laid down by this court.
“The high court perused the charges in the charge sheet in isolation and made observations that would influence the trial erring to notice that laws dealing with national security and national integrity should be interpreted and applied with a strict yardstick as compared to other laws.
“That the high court went into so much analysis in detail in order to grant bail to the respondent herein and thus held that no prima facie case is made out,” the NIA said.
The plea contended that Teltumbde is a senior and active member of CPI (Maoist) working in urban areas.
“The respondent herein was instrumental in organising fact finding missions on the directions of CPI (Maoist) which had allocated Rs 10,00,000 for the purpose of his international campaign and visits in furtherance of CPI (Maoist) agenda and is the brother of Milind Teltumbde who was eliminated in an encounter with the security forces who was deeply inspired by the respondent herein,” the plea said.
Teltumbde has been lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai since his arrest in the case in April 2020.
The activist had moved the high court last year after a special court refused to grant him bail.
He had claimed that he was neither present at the December 31, 2017 Elgar Parishad event held in Pune city, nor had made any provocative speech.
The NIA’s claim is that Teltumbde was one of the main conveners of the Elgar Parishad and he was an active member of several frontal organisations of the CPI (Maoist).
Teltumbde is lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai since his arrest in the case in April 2020.
The high court had granted bail to him on a surety of Rs 1 lakh.
He moved the high court last year after a special court refused to grant him bail. He had claimed that he was never present at the December 31, 2017 Elgar Parishad event held in Pune city, nor made any provocative speeches.
The prosecution’s case was that provocative and inflammatory speeches were made at the event, allegedly backed by banned CPI (Maoist), which later led to violence at Koregaon Bhima village near Pune.
The accused in the case have been charged with waging a war against the nation, being active members of the CPI (Maoist), criminal conspiracy and indulging in acts with an intent to strike terror in the minds of people using explosive substances.
The trial court is yet to frame charges in the case, only after which trial would commence.
(With PTI inputs)