NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court judgement refusing to grant relief to the five arrested rights activist in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case has given a graphic description of their activities and the earlier cases against them for their alleged links with outlaws, including naxals and Maoists.
The apex court dealt with the arrest of Gautam Navalakha, a human rights activist and New Delhi-based journalist; Sudha Bharadwaj, an IIT graduate who is also an advocate and national green secretary of PUCL; Varavara Rao, a Hyderabad-based poet and a political worker; Arun Ferreira, a Mumbai-based lawyer and Human Rights activist; and Vernon Gonsalves, a Mumbai-based writer.
Three of the five accused persons were prosecuted in the past for offences filed under the Sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in a number of cases.
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.
