Team News Riveting
Mumbai, December 1
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted default bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Sudha Bharadwaj, the first such bail granted in the case.
The order was passed by a Bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar.
Bharadwaj has been in jail since August 2018 after she was arrested from Delhi. A lawyer and activist who has worked for rights of tribal communities and others in Chhattisgarh, Bharadwaj was teaching at the prestigious National Law University, Delhi at the time of her arrest.
Bharadwaj’s plea filed through advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry had contended that upon the expiry of 90 days of detention, there was no valid or lawful order extending time for the filing of the chargesheet, and hence Bharadwaj is entitled to default bail.
As per law, once the maximum period, that is, 60, 90 and 180 days from arrest, provided for an investigation in a case is over and no charge sheet is filed, the accused becomes entitled to be released on bail, which is called the ‘default’ bail.
The Maharashtra government, while opposing the plea, had stated that as long as the investigation was not assigned to NIA, the proceedings pertaining to the investigation could continue before the regular courts.
Among other grounds for opposing Bharadwaj’s petition, NIA had argued that there was a binding judgment of the Bombay High Court that the NIA court comes into the picture only after the NIA takes over the investigation of a case.
After the verdict granting bail was pronounced, NIA had sought a stay on the same for two weeks, indicating that it is likely to file an appeal against the order before the Supreme Court.
