Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Rona Wilson & Sudhir Dhawale In Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad Case

In a major relief for researcher Rona Wilson and activist Sudhir Dhawale, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday (January 8) granted them bail in the Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad case.

A division bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Kamal Khata considered the fact that the duo have spent more than 6 years in jail as undertrials.

"They are in jail since 2018, even the charges in the case are yet to be framed. The prosecution has cited over 300 witnesses and thus there is no possibility of the trial to conclude in the near future," the bench noted while granting bail to both Wilson and Dhawale.

The judges, before considering these facts, made it clear to the prosecution that if it hears the matter on merits, it will make certain observations. However, Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas assisted by Special Prosecutor Sandesh Patil and advocate Chintan Shah, urged the bench not to make any observations.

The judges, therefore, referred to the decision of the Supreme Court in Union of India vs KA Najeeb's case and granted them bail.

The bench has granted bail on surety of Rs 1 lakh to each of the two accused with the usual conditions like not tampering with the evidence, not leaving Mumbai without the special court's permission, surrendering passport and providing a mobile number to the prosecution and also marking attendance every Monday before NIA headquarters in Mumbai.

A detailed order is not yet made available.

Notably, Wilson and Dhawale are among the 16 rights' activists and rationalists, who are booked in the Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad case. They are accused of having links with the banned outfit CPI (Maoist) and also for waging a war against the country.