Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Sudha BhardwajThe Bombay High Court Tuesday rejected the bail application of activists Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case for their alleged links with the banned CPI-Maoist. The activists were arrested by Pune Police on August 28, 2018.
The court had last week reserved its order on the activist’s bail plea. In October last year, a special court in Pune had rejected the bail application of Bharadwaj, following which, she moved the Bombay High Court.
Advocate Yug Chaudhry, representing Bharadwaj, had told the court that there was no incriminating statement by any of the witnesses in the chargesheet, except that by a police officer who conducted the house search of Bharadwaj. He added that the documents found by the police, on the basis of which she was arrested, were not generated from her computer.
In the bail application of Ferreira, advocate Sudeep Pasbola had argued that he was arrested only because of his acquaintance with co-accused Surendra Gadling, and for being a member of the Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL).
Additional public prosecutor Aruna Pai opposed the bail application of the three activists stating that they are active members of frontal groups funded by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Pai said that the investigation is still underway and releasing them on bail would jeopardise the probe.