Hany Babu, a former Delhi University Professor, on Friday (May 3) withdrew his petition in the Supreme Court seeking bail in the Bhima Koregaon case over alleged Maoist links. The matter was placed before Justices Bela Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal. The counsel, appearing for Babu, informed the Court that there had been a change in circumstances as five co-accused have been granted...
Hany Babu, a former Delhi University Professor, on Friday (May 3) withdrew his petition in the Supreme Court seeking bail in the Bhima Koregaon case over alleged Maoist links.
The matter was placed before Justices Bela Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal. The counsel, appearing for Babu, informed the Court that there had been a change in circumstances as five co-accused have been granted bail. Accordingly, the Court had passed the following order:
“The counsel for the petitioner states that there is a change in the circumstance and she would not like to press the present petition and approach the High Court…In veiw of the above, the petition is dismissed as not pressed.”
The Division Bench was hearing Babu's special leave petition challenging a September 2022 decision of the Bombay High Court to reject his bail application in this case. Babu has been lodged in jail since July 2020 after being arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in connection with the 2018 caste-based violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon in Pune.
Before parting, the Counsel asked for the Court's leave to allow her to approach the High Court. However, the Court pointed out that her statement had been recorded in the order. "No, we do not grant any leave. We have recorded your statement. No need for our permission.," Justice Trivedi said.
Last month (on April 5), the Supreme Court (Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and AG Masih) had granted bail to Shoma Sen, a co-accused in the case, after observing that there was no prima facie case against her.
Sen is the sixth out of the sixteen accused in the case to get bail. Sudha Bharadwaj got default bail(2021) while Anand Teltumbde(2022), Vernon Gonsalves & Arun Ferreira(2023) got bail on merits. Varavara Rao has been granted bail on medical grounds and Gautam Navlakha has been shifted to house arrest due to health reasons by the Supreme Court. Although the Bombay High Court has granted bail on merits to Navlakha and Mahesh Raut, these orders were stayed by the High Court itself and the stay orders were extended by the Supreme Court. Another accused, Father Stan Swamy, passed away in custody in July 2021.
Case Details
Hany Babu v. National Investigation Agency | Diary No. 35415 of 2023