Bhima Koregaon arrests: SC rejects Romila Thapar's review plea seeking immediate release of five activists

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea filed by historian Romila Thapar seeking a review of the 28 September majority verdict by which the apex court had refused immediate release of five rights activists held in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud dismissed the plea on Friday. The order, however, was uploaded on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_5281451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Supreme Court of India. AP[/caption] “We have perused the review petition as well as the grounds in support thereof. In our opinion, no case for review of judgment dated 28 September 2018 is made out. The review petition is accordingly dismissed,” the bench said. On 28 September, the court rejected a plea for immediate release of the five rights activists — Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha — arrested by the Maharashtra police on 28 August. The activists were arrested in connection with an FIR filed following a conclave — ‘Elgaar Parishad’ — held on 31 December in 2017 that had allegedly triggered violence later at Bhima Koregaon village in Maharashtra. They were put under house arrest on 29 August. On 28 September, the court said the accused will remain under house arrest for four more weeks. By a majority verdict of 2:1, it had also refused to appoint a SIT to probe their arrest.