The Supreme Court on September 28 will pronounce its verdict on the legality of the raids and arrests of five activists on August 28 in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
The activists – Arun Ferreira, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha have been under house arrest since the police held them on August 28 after the investigators found incrementing evidence to link them with the caste-based clashes in Pune’s Bhima-Koregaon in January this year.
A three-judge bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra had reserved the judgment on September 20 following counsel for both parties concluded their arguments. One judgment will be delivered by Justice D Y Chandrachud, which will be coincided by the CJI and Justice A M Khanwilkar.
The bench, that also comprised Justices D Y Chandrachud and A M Khaniwlkar had asked the Maharashtra police to file their case diary pertaining to the ongoing investigation in the case.
On September 19, the apex 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 five activists were picked from different locations by Maharashtra Police on August 28, for their alleged Maoists links. prompting human rights defenders and Opposition to call it “virtual declaration of emergency”.
