Dalits and Tribals of the Naxal-affected region have written a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India seeking an interrogation of Justice Shinde, one of the Justices who had recently granted bail to Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case.
The letter was written by the ‘Communist Hinsa Pidit Adivasi Dalit Sangharsh Committee’, a group based out of Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh. In the letter, the committee has asserted that the decision to grant bail to Varavara Rao has angered the Dalit and Tribal victims of Naxal violence.
The committee has mentioned in the letter that Varavara Rao is a Maoist and has openly advocated and supported violent Maoists across the country. It has asked Justice Shinde and his family members to come and live in the Naxal-affected areas and witness the atrocities committed by them.
Besides, the committee has also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the bail order granted by Justice Shinde to the accused ‘Urban Naxal’ Varavara Rao. It has also asked the apex court to direct the Income Tax Department to investigate Shinde for allegedly possessing illicit assets.
Furthermore, the committee has also urged the top court to appoint a committee of Supreme Court judges to investigate the cases presided over by Justice Shinde so far.
Bombay High Court grants bail to Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence accused Varavara Rao
Last week, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Varavara Rao, an 81-year-old poet-activist and an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, on medical grounds for six months. The order was passed by a bench of justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale.
Rao was arrested in November 2018 along with nine others in relation to the Bhima Koregaon case which was transferred by Pune police to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In July this 2020, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) had accused Rao of attempting to take undue advantage of the Coronavirus outbreak after he applied for bail on grounds of health.