A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that it will examine two days later whether there is material supporting the arrest of five rights activists.
The Supreme Court. (Photo: IANS)
The Supreme Court on Monday extended the house arrest of five human rights activists arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case till September 19.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that it will examine two days later whether there is material supporting the arrest of five rights activists -Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha.
“Every criminal investigation is based on allegations and we have to see whether there is some material,” said the bench, also comprising Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice D Y Chandrachud.
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The bench said if there were some grave lapses, it may consider the prayers like investigation by an SIT in the case.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Maharashtra government, said the court should make it clear that after the adjudication from the apex court, the arrested accused cannot avail remedies simultaneously on similar issues at other judicial forum.
On August 28, the Pune Police had carried raids in multiple cities resulting in arrest of human rights activists.
They were put under house arrest following a Supreme Court order and they continue to be under house arrest.
In a press conference held on 29 August, the Pune Police said the arrested activists were planning to “target higher political functionaries”.
“We seized laptops, phones, memory cards and several other documents which clearly show links to a conspiracy,” said a senior Pune Police official at a press conference.
Addressing the activists as “urban Naxals”, the police said they had links with Naxal outfits.
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