Elgar case: Prolonged incarceration without trial; HC grants bail to ex-DU prof Hany Babu

Former Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, an accused in the high-profile Elgar Parishad case, was granted bail on Thursday by the Bombay High Court on grounds of prolonged incarceration of over five years without trial.

A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and R R Bhonsale, which completed hearing in the case in the first week of October this year, ordered on Thursday to release Babu and to furnish a personal bond of Rs one lakh with sureties of the same amount.

The court stressed that ''it is by now a well settled and recognized principle of law that prolonged incarceration without trial amounts to infringement of the right of an accused enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution''.

''The prolonged incarceration and unlikelihood of the trial being completed in reasonable time or near future necessitates a consequential release of the under trial on bail,'' the bench said.

The court took a note of the fact Babu is already in pretrial incarceration for more than 5 years and 7 months as of today.

Taking into consideration the ratio laid by the Supreme Court in its recent ruling, the accused ''can be enlarged on bail during the pendency of his trial'', the bench said.

It also found merit in the ground of parity cited by the defence.

''It be noted here that co-accused Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson have been granted bail by this court pre-dominantly on the ground of prolonged incarceration without trial. Therefore, the appellant (Babu) is entitled to claim parity with the said two accused,'' the bench held.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) urged the High Court to stay the order so that an appeal could be filed in the Supreme Court. The HC, however, rejected it.

''Taking into consideration the fact that, as of today, the appellant is in pretrial incarceration for more than 5 years and 7 months, the prayer of stay is rejected,'' the court said.

The NIA had arrested the associate professor, whose full name is Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil and a resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, in July 2020. Babu, 59, who worked with the English department of the university, has since been lodged in Taloja prison.

Babu's counsel Yug Mohit Chaudhary had argued that bail was being sought merely on the ground of prolonged incarceration at pretrial stage and not on merits.

He submitted prosecution has cited approximately 363 witnesses in support of its case and discharge application is still pending before the trial for more than three years.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh had opposed the bail contending that merely because the accused is behind bars for over 5 years cannot be a ground for bail.

The court, after reviewing both submissions, allowed the bail plea of the accused.

The bail conditions imposed by the HC includes surrendering passport to the trial court, not leaving the jurisdiction of the Mumbai court without prior permission and reporting to the NIA Mumbai office on the first Monday of every month.

The arrest of Babu figures in the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report which claims that he had not been provided proper medical treatment during his stay in the jail.

The NIA has accused Hany Babu of being a co-conspirator who was involved in propagating Maoist activities and ideology under the instructions of leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

The case relates to inciting people and giving provocative speeches during an Elgar Parishad event organised by the Kabir Kala Manch at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which promoted enmity between various caste groups and led to violence resulting in loss of life and property and statewide agitation in Maharashtra.

Initially, the Pune police registered a case in 2018 alleging the accused were involved in provocative speeches triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima in Pune district the next day. The case was later taken over by the NIA.

The Elgar Parishad case has seen the arrest of 16 people, including prominent lawyers, activists, and academics accused of furthering the cause of the banned CPI (Maoist). Among them was 84-year-old priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy who died in custody in July 2021 while waiting for the trial to begin.

Ten other accused, including Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale, and Rona Wilson, have been released on bail. The Supreme Court recently granted interim bail to Jyoti Jagtap.

Accused Mahesh Raut was also released on six-week medical bail by the apex court, which was subsequently extended.

Lawyer Surendra Gadling as well as cultural artists and activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor are among those who are yet to secure regular bail in the case.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)