5 activists arrested: SC orders house arrest till September 6, says dissent is 'safety valve of democracy'

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered that the five rights activists arrested in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case, should be kept under house arrest till September 6, the date of the next hearing. 

The Supreme Court today ordered that the five human rights activists, arrested in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, be kept under house arrest till September 6, saying dissent was the "safety valve" of democracy. 

The five activists will now not be sent to jail till September 6 but will remain in house arrest under police watch.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra questioned the Maharashtra police for arresting these persons after around nine months of the Bhima-Koregaon incident.

"Dissent is the safety valve of democracy and if you don't allow these safety valves, it will burst," the bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said.

The top court also issued notice to the Maharashtra state government and the state police on the plea filed by five intellectuals, including historian Romila Thapar and economists Prabhat Patnaik and Devika Jain, against the arrest of the rights activists yesterday in connection with the case.

Activist Sudha Bhardwaj (PTI)
 

The counsel, appearing for Maharashtra, raised the issue of maintainability of the plea, saying a "stranger" cannot seek relief for the activists who have already approached the high courts.

Telugu poet Rao and activists Gonsalves and Ferreira were taken to Pune late last night and are likely to be produced in a court later in the day, a senior police official in Pune said.

The other two arrested for their suspected links with Maoists were trade unionist and lawyer Bharadwaj in Faridabad and civil liberties activist Navlakha in Delhi.

Navlakha and Bharadwaj are confined to their homes, under the guard of police officers, and allowed to meet only their lawyers. Eminent historian Romila Thapar and four others have moved the apex court against the arrests by the Maharashtra Police.

The petition was mentioned before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra which agreed to give an urgent hearing today itself at 3.45 pm.

(Pic Source: PTI)

The petition, which was mentioned by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, seeks the release of all five and an independent probe into the arrests.

In a parallel development, the Delhi High Court will hear Navlakha's plea in the afternoon after the Maharashtra Police submitted that translated documents of the case were not ready.

"The entire case is a political ploy against political dissent by this vindictive and cowardly government, which is bent upon shielding the real culprits of Bhima Koregaon and thus divert attention from its own scams and failures which stretch from Kashmir to Kerala," Navlakha said in a statement issued by the civil rights group People's Union for Democratic Rights of which he is a part.

Heavy security was deployed outside his heavily barricaded Nehru Enclave residence. No outsiders were allowed inside and several media vans were stationed outside. Navlakha's transit remand was secured from the Saket district court to take him to Pune. The order, however, was stayed by the high court.

It was a night of dramatic developments for those following Bharadwaj's case.    The chief judicial magistrate of Faridabad had granted Bharadwaj's transit remand to the Maharashtra police. However, it had to reverse its order in the early hours of Wednesday in keeping with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that had stayed her transit remand for three days.

The near simultaneous multi-city raids against the five as well as four others were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

Provocative speeches were made at the Elgar Parishad event, which triggered the violence, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug police station in Pune after the event.

Koregaon-Bhima occupies a central place in Dalit history -- it witnessed a major battle in which the Peshwa rulers were defeated on January 1, 1818 by the British army, comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers. Every year, the anniversary of the battle is marked by Dalits assembling in Pune and marching to Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.

Rao, Bhardwaj, Ferreira, Gonzalves and Navalakha were arrested under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, an official said.

There were also arrested under some other sections of the IPC, along with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their "alleged Naxal activities", the official said without elaborating.

According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided yesterday were Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Yesterday's events mirrored raids conducted in June when five activists were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in June.

With inputs from PTI