The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for September 21, a plea for bail by Jyoti Jagtap – one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case – charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Jyoti Jagtap has challenged October 17, 2022, Bombay High Court order declining her bail.
A bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sanjay Kumar said that it would hear the case on September 21, asking the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) to file entire pleadings that were made before the Bombay High court.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on September 21 as advocate Aparna Bhat appearing for Jyoti Jagtap, urged the bench to fix a date for hearing the matter as she (Jagtap) is in custody for about three years.
“List on September 21. Let the respondent file an additional affidavit incorporating therein the entire pleadings of the High Court,” the bench said while asking the NIA to file the affidavit by September 14.
Earlier on May 4, the top court had sought responses from the Maharashtra government and the NIA on Jagtap’s bail plea while challenging the high court order.
A member of Kabir Kala Manch (KKM)- a cultural group alleged to be a front organisation of the banned CPI (Maoist) – Jagtap was arrested by the NIA in September, 2020.
The NIA has stated that Jagtap and others had organised the Elgar Parishad event on December 31, 2017 that led to violence the following day.
Jagtap, singer-cum-activist, had approached the High Court after a special NIA Court had rejected her bail application on February 14, 2023.
The High Court had said the NIA’s case against Jagtap was “prima facie true” and that she was part of a “larger conspiracy” hatched by the banned outfit CPI (Maoist).
The High Court had said Jagtap was an active member of KKM, which during its stage play at the ‘Elgar Parishad’ conclave on December 31, 2017 in Pune city gave not only “aggressive, but highly provocative slogans”.
Jagtap, accused of singing and raising provocative slogans at the conclave along with other KKM members, has been lodged at the Byculla women’s prison in Mumbai since then.