Bhima Koregaon case Latest updates: The hearing on the bail plea of activists has been deferred till Thursday.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the so called letters quoted by the Maharashtra Police to Comrade Prakash are fabricated, because the judgment convicting Professor GN Saibaba mentions that it was a name used by him. However, he remains in jail since a long time. He questioned whether Saibaba was writing, or receiving Maoist-activities related letters from government-run prison cells.
The Supreme Court, during a previous hearing on Monday, had indicated that it may order an SIT probe if it found that evidence has been "cooked up" and the material supporting the arrest of the five rights activists in the Koregaon-Bhima violence case needed to be examined.
Making his submissions, senior advocate Anand Grover said that he concurs with Singhvi's points. He also questioned the release of prime accused Milind Ekbote in the case and said that an SIT should be constituted to bring out the truth.
Opening today's arguments, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing the activists argued that the initial FIRs did not mention any larger conspiracy. He argued that the so called letters quoted by the Maharashtra Police even name profesor GN Saibaba who is in jail since 2017.
The Supreme Court has started hearing the petition against arrest of activists in Koregaon-Bhima violence case on Wednesday. This is expected to be the final hearing on the case.
The last hearing on Monday saw sharp exchanges between senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. At the fag end of the hearing of the plea filed by historian Romila Thapar before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Dhavan referred to interruptions by the law officer.
The Supreme Court of India. PTI
"Mr Mehta should be a commentator in local cricket matches. Don't convert everything into a stupid drama. He did this to me during the hearing of another important case. Let us have a hearing without these interruptions,” Dhavan said.
"I do not want to stoop to his level. This pedestrian language has been used for judges also," the law officer responded angrily.
This prompted senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the complainant in the violence case, to say "the arguments be confined to the case. I am making this request second time in this court...".
The bench fixed the plea of Thapar and the others for final hearing on 19 September, while specifying the time limit for advancing of arguments by lawyers including Salve, AM Singhvi, Anand Grover, Dhavan, Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh.
The Maharashtra police had arrested the rights activists on 28 August in connection with an FIR lodged following a conclave — 'Elgaar Parishad' — held on 31 December last year that had later triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.
Prominent Telugu poet Rao was arrested on 28 August from Hyderabad, while activists Gonsalves and Ferreira were nabbed from Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bharadwaj from Faridabad in Haryana and civil liberties activist Navlakha from Delhi.
