CM's Statement On Presence Of Crowd With Saffron Flags During Bhima Koregaon Protest 'Extraneous' : NIA Court While Rejecting Bail

The NIA court has declined to consider Maharashtra's ex-Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's statement in the State Legislative Assembly on the issue of caste violence at Bhima Koregaon while rejecting bail applications of three accused. The then Chief Minister had spoken on the floor of the house about the presence of around 200-300 people holding saffron flags, sloganeering at the place of the caste violence on January 1, 2018.

Special Judge DE Kothalikar observed that under Section 43D (5) of the NIA Act, regarding bail, he could only rely on the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) case diary and charge-sheet to record a prima facie satisfaction of guilty before denying bail.

The court dismissed Fadnavis's statement as 'extraneous material' which cannot be looked into at this stage. The defence had cited Section 57 (4) of the Evidence Act for the statement to be looked into. "It can be said that the court in order to form the opinion is required to peruse the case diary or the report under Section 173 of the Code."

Thus, based on letters found in a co-accused computer and statements of protected witnesses, Judge Kothalikar observed that it was clear the CPI (Maoist) wanted the end of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. "They were also thinking of going for another incident like the death of Rajiv Gandhi by targeting the road-shows of Prime Minister Modi," the court added.

"A corollary to the aforestated deliberation is that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accusation of commission of the offences punishable under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the applicants prima facie true and considering the express bar imposed by section 43 D of the UAPA, the applicants cannot be released on bail," the court said.

The accused have claimed that the electronic evidence against them is planted using malware called Netwire. Accused Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen have also approached the Bombay HC against UAPA.

Fadnavis's Statement

According to the accused, the then Chief Minister,Devendra Fadnavis made a speech on the floor of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly explaining the turn of events that led to violence at Koregaon Bhima. Importantly he stated in his address to the House that about 200-300 young people holding saffron flags in their hand took off from the memorial of Chhatrapati Sambhaji came to Bhima Koregaon and there they started sloganeering as also resorted to stone-pelting.

While the accused claim the caste violence at Bhima-Koregaon was orchestrated by this mob led by Hindutva leaders, the NIA claims the violence resulted from inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad event as part of a larger conspiracy of the CPI(Maoist).

The three accused Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap are alleged members of Kabir Kala Manch who organised the Elgaar Parishad event. They had cited Fadnavis's statement to support their case.

Slogans At Elgaar Not Terrorist Act But Uttered Ill Against The Government

Advocates Barun Kumar, Sharif Sheikh and Nihalsingh Rathod for the accused cited a report by the police after the event that found no fault in the speeches at the Elgar Parishad event. However, according to the report, the court claimed that "similies" were used against the BJP government at the State and Central level.

"However, if they are considered in the context of the report dated 01.01.2018(Pune Police's report), in that case prima facie there is every reason to believe that the aforesaid slogans were raised the applicants have uttered ill about the Government established by law and promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, public peace and tranquility. The words used in the slogans 'Shikava Dhada, Navi Peshwai Masanat Gada, Garaj Tila Thokyachi, Gadun Taka' speak volume. "

The National Investigation Agency arrested the three accused in September 2020.

They were booked along with 13 other civil liberties accused under sections 121, 121A, 124A, 153A, 505(1)(b), 117, 120b r/w 34 of the IPC and sections 13,16,17,18,18-B,20,38,39 and 40 of the UAPA. Father Stan Swamy, the 16th accused to be arrested, passed away on July 5, awaiting his bail hearing.