Sudha Bharadwaj default bail plea: Bombay HC reserves order

MUMBAI: Bombay high court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a plea for default bail by lawyer and Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon accused Sudha Bharadwaj.
A bench of Justices S S Shinde and Nijamoodin Jamadar heard Bharadwaj’s petition that also urged it to quash two orders of the Pune sessions court extending time for the Pune police to file a chargesheet and take cognisance of the chargesheet.
Her advocate Yug Chaudhary argued that judge K D Vadane’s order was illegal as he was not notified as special judge under the NIA Act. He also submitted that upon expiry of 90 days of detention there was no valid or lawful order extending time for filing of chargesheet and hence Bhardwaj was entitled to default bail. Advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni reiterated the special NIA court would hear a case only after it is taken over by NIA and not during the pre-trial stage. He said until then the sessions court has jurisdiction to pass necessary orders.