The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought cancellation of the bail granted to lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and Telugu poet Varavara Rao, both accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, alleging that they violated their bail conditions by attending an event at the Mumbai Press Club where other defendants in the case were present.
A special court on Friday (May 15, 2026) sought the response of Bharadwaj and Rao to an application filed by the National Investigation Agency seeking cancellation of their bail.
Bharadwaj was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2021, while Rao was granted interim bail on medical grounds in February 2021. Rao’s interim bail was extended from time to time before being confirmed by the Supreme Court in August 2022.
The NIA claimed that both Bharadwaj and Rao had violated bail conditions that barred them from establishing communication with other defendants in the Bhima Koregaon case, or persons allegedly involved in similar activities.
According to the NIA, Bharadwaj and Rao attended a meeting held on January 19 on the terrace of the Mumbai Press Club, where other defendants in the Elgaar Parishad case were present.
The NIA alleged that the January 19 gathering was aimed at propagating the ideology of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and discussing the future course of the “Urban Naxal” movement.
In its application seeking cancellation of bail, the agency attached a copy of the Mumbai Press Club inquiry committee report, CCTV footage of the gathering, and referred to call data records of the accused.
The Case
The Bhima Koregaon case pertains to the violence that broke out near Pune on January 1, 2018, a day after a conclave called the Elgar Parishad was organized to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.
The NIA has alleged that the Elgar Parishad conclave was part of a larger Maoist conspiracy to stoke caste violence, destabilize the Union government and assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sixteen people were arrested in the case.
But when the Supreme Court in 2023 granted bail to two persons accused in the case, it noted that the primary evidence cited by the NIA – a batch of letters – was of “weak probative value or quality”. In addition, a digital forensics firm, Arsenal Consulting, concluded that false evidence had been planted on the laptops and devices of the accused persons.
Of the 16 accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case, 14 have been released on bail. Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy, who was also a defendant in the case, died in prison in 2021.
Another accused person in the Bhima Koregaon case, Surendra Gadling, got bail from the Bombay High Court on May 4. However, he remains in jail as his bail application in a 2016 arson case is pending before the Supreme Court.
source: Red Spark