Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Five Members Of Sanatan Sanstha, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti Booked For Conspiring To Bomb 2018 Sunburn Fest

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to five men, alleged members of Hindu right-wing organisations - 'Sanatan Sanstha' and 'Hindu Janjagruti Samiti' arrested in 2018 for their alleged conspiracy to explode bombs at the then ongoing Sunburn festival in Pune district to terrorise the participants.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande while granting bail noted that though the allegation is that the five men - Sujit Rangaswami, Amit Baddi, Ganesh Miskin, Shrikant Pangarkar and Bharat Kurane, conspired to execute bomb blasts in the ongoing festival, yet the festival concluded successfully.

"At this stage, it is necessary to mention that the act which is alleged to have been conspired, was never executed and none of the Appellant indulged in commission of any crime, either in conduct of Sunburn Festival or any such festival. The Appellants came to be arrested in connection with the said complaints on distinct dates. The Sunburn program was in fact successfully completed without any disturbance, but the arrest in the present case was made in first week of August 2018 i.e. after 8 months after the programme was over," the bench noted in its July 30 order.

According to the prosecution case, the five men were part of the group led by prime accused Sharad Salaskar and Vaibhav Raut, who upon their arrest in August 2018, informed the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) Mumbai Unit about the arms and ammunition, they have hidden at their residences in Nalasopara, Thane district. Further, the ATS recovered more arms and ammunition from certain places disclosed by the accused at Solapur and Pune. The ATS arrested in all 12 persons in the case from August 2018 onwards. They were arrested under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The prime allegation, even as per the chargesheet was that the accused persons being active members of the Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, hatched a conspiracy to execute petrol and crude bomb blasts in the then ongoing Sunburn festival in Pune city.

It was further alleged that they were influenced by the philosophy of creation of 'Hindu Rashtra' and keeping this objective in mind, had conspired to eliminate all activities opposing the Hindu religion and all entities, which were preaching or writing or propounding against their religion. It was claimed that they were active in disruption in the exhibition of movies, and conduct of programmes, which according to them, in any manner brought any disrepute to the pride of the Hindu religion.

The charge sheet further discloses that the persons opposing the deep-rooted practices adopted in Hindu culture through their writings like Dr Narendra Dabholkar from 'Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti', Comrade Govind Pansare as well as Prof MM Kalburgi and senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, who were done to death by the 'motorcycle riders.'

The judges, however, opined that such statements in the chargesheet, were insufficient to establish the charge of conspiracy against the Appellants.

"We have noted that all the accused persons are arrested in the year 2018 and as on date, though the trial has commenced, only two witnesses have been examined and third witness is in the witness box, when the prosecution has cited the list of 417 witnesses. We are also informed that since September 2023, no witness is examined by the prosecution," the bench noted.

The judges further emphasised the fact that the 'speedy trial' has received a recognition of the fundamental right of a person facing accusations and being subjected to trial.

"...since all the Appellants are incarcerated since 2018, we grant bail to the appellants," the bench said.

Appearance:

Advocates Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, Sanjiv Punalekar and Jyoti Ghorpade appeared for the Appellants.

Additional Public Prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik represented the State.

Case Details: Sujith Kumar Rangaswami (Criminal Appeal 1268 of 2023)

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