The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere in the arrest of five rights activists in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case and declined to appoint an SIT for probe into their arrests. The bench extended the house arrest to another four weeks to enable the accused to seek legal remedy.
The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, in a 2:1 verdict, refused the plea seeking the immediate release of the activists. The majority verdict dismissed the plea of historian Romila Thapar and others seeking SIT probe in the case. The bench also noted that the accused cannot choose which investigating agency would probe the case.
Justice Khanwilkar wrote the judgement for himself and CJI Dipak Misra. Refraining from commenting on the case saying it may prejudice case of accused and prosecution, Khanwilkar said this was not a case of arrest merely because of difference in political views. "Arrests were not because of dissent of activists, there is prima facie material to show their link with banned CPI (Maoists)," said CJI Dipak Misra.
Justice Chandrachud, the lone dissenting voice, however, said the arrest of the five accused was an attempt by the state to muzzle dissent. "The liberty cherished by the Constitution would have no meaning if persecution of the five activists is allowed without proper investigation," said Chandrachud. Chandrachud lashed out at the Maharashtra police for press meets and distribution of letters to media.
The five activists—Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha—are under arrest at their respective homes since August 29.
The plea—by Thapar, economists Prabhat Patnaik and Devaki Jain, sociology professor Satish Deshpande and human rights lawyer Maja Daruwala—has sought an independent probe into the arrests and the immediate release of the activists.
