Prolonged Incarceration Without Trial: Bombay HC Grants Bail to Ex-DU Prof Hany Babu
Ten other accused, including Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale, and Rona Wilson, have been released on bail
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Delhi University professor Hany Babu, who was arrested in 2018 in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case. After spending more than five years in prison, Babu will be released upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh along with sureties.
The High Court held that Babu’s continued incarceration without the commencement of trial was an “inordinate delay.” The prosecution sought a stay on the bail order in order to file an appeal before the Supreme Court. However, the division bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Ranjitsingh R. Bhosale refused to grant a stay.
The court observed that Babu’s prolonged imprisonment without trial violated his fundamental right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution. It also clarified that the decision to grant bail was based on the delay in the trial, and not on the merits of the charges.
Babu was arrested on July 28, 2020, and has since been in custody on allegations of being a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and of involvement in an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also faces allegations of being part of a committee that supported fellow academic G.N. Saibaba, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for alleged Maoist links.
A total of 16 arrests have been made so far in the case, registered in 2018. Among them, Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist from Jharkhand, died in custody in July 2021. Ten accused — including Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson — have been granted bail and released.
Last month, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Jyoti Jagtap. Another accused, Mahesh Raut, was released by the Supreme Court on medical bail for six weeks, which was later extended. Lawyer Surendra Gadling and cultural activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor are yet to receive regular bail.