Bhima Koregaon case: Supreme Court grants bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira

The Supreme Court of India on Friday (July 28) granted bail to activists and Elgar Parishad members Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the Bhima Koregaon case. The activists were arrested in August 2018 on charges of inciting violence under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Earlier, their bail plea had been rejected by the Bombay High Court in December 2021, after which they approached the Supreme Court.

Citing the activists' five-year custody, the apex court granted them bail but imposed certain conditions. Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia ordered that Gonsalves and Ferreira shall not leave Maharashtra and must surrender their passports to the police. The court also instructed them to use only one mobile phone each and provide their addresses to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the case.

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Notably, in August 2022, the Supreme Court had granted bail to another accused in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case, Dr P Varavara Rao, on medical grounds.

The Bhima Koregaon case revolves around the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the Pune police alleged was funded by Maoists. Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, and 14 others have been accused by the NIA. The case centers on alleged inflammatory speeches made during the conclave, which the police claimed led to violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of Pune the following day.

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