NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will be going to pronounce its verdict on the arrest of five rights activists in Bhima-Koregaon violence case on a plea by historian Romila Thapar and others seeking the immediate release of five activists.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had reserved the judgment on September 20 after counsel for both parties, including senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Harish Salve and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, concluded their submissions. The bench, that also comprised Justices A M Khaniwlkar and D Y Chandrachud.
The five activists Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Gautam Navlakha, were in jail since 29th August. The police claimed to have proof of the arrested activists’ involvement in an event called Elgaar Parishad that later triggered violence at Bhima-Koregaon in Maharashtra.
The apex court had on September 19 said it would look into the case with a “hawk’s eye” as “liberty cannot be sacrificed at the altar of conjectures”. The five accused are under house arrest at their respective homes since August 29.
