Eight accused denied default bail by Bombay HC seek correction in order

Eight activists and academics currently in jail in the Elgar ParishadMaoist links case who were denied default bail by the Bombay High Court earlier this month have approached the HC and on Tuesday they sought a correction in the relevant orderThe accused persons Sudhir Dawale Dr P Varavara Rao Rona Wilson Advocate Surendra Gadling Professor Shoma Sen Mahesh Raut Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira have approached the HC claiming its order denying them default bail was based on a factual errorThey filed an application seeking correction and it was taken up for hearing on TuesdayOn December 1 a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar had granted default bail to another accused Sudha Bharadwaj on the ground that the Pune sessions court that had allowed extension of time to the police for filing a chargesheet after the mandatory 90 days did not have the jurisdiction to do soAt the time the bench had rejected the same relief for the eight of Bharadwajs coaccused in the case who have now moved the HC for default bailThe bench had said these eight persons had not exercised their right to seek default bail in time It had observed that while Bharadwaj had filed a plea before the Pune court seeking default bail as soon as the 90day period for filing of the chargesheet got over these eight had delayed filing of their applicationsThe Elgar Parishad case was earlier with the Pune police and it is now being handled by the National Investigation Agency NIAOn Tuesday however the eight accused persons told the bench through their counsel R Sathyanarayanan that its judgment denying them default bail was based on a factual errorThey said that Dhawale Wilson Gadling Sen and Raut had filed default bail pleas before the Pune sessions court on September 26 2018 after the 90 days period of their arrest got over and the chargesheet remained to be filedAlso read Varavara Rao must go back to prison as other old people also in jail NIA to HCThey said they were arrested on July 6 2018 and the first chargesheet against them was filed only on November 15 2018 They filed their default bail pleas in time but the same are still pending hearing before the sessions court they saidGonsalves Rao and Ferriera told the HC they had applied for default bail on November 30 2018 just four days after Bharadwaj filed her application before the Pune courtThey told the HC the Pune sessions court had rejected their default bail applications along with Bharadwajs similar plea through a common order passed on November 6 2019It was this November 6 order that the HC bench of Justice Shinde had set aside on December 1 in Bharadwajs case they maintainedThe date of arrest of the accused Gonsalves Rao Ferriera and Bharadwaj being the same and all the accused had preferred application for default and hence are at par The accused Gonsalves Rao and Ferriera have been denied same relief accorded to Sudha Bharadwaj on account of a factual error their plea in the HC readsAs per law once the maximum period that is 60 90 or 180 days from arrest provided for an investigation in a case is over and no chargesheet is filed the accused becomes entitled to be released on bail which is called the default bailThe HC will hear the matter further on December 23The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31 2017 which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the KoregaonBhima war memorial located on the citys outskirtsThe Pune police had claimed the conclave was backed by MaoistsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever