On September 21, 2023, the Bombay High Court granted bail to activist Mahesh Raut, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case. A year later, the 37-year-old Raut is still in jail, and the three-week bail granted by the Supreme Court has been extended time and time again without an effective hearing so far on the appeal to the Supreme Court.
Raut has been in jail since his arrest in 2018. The Supreme Court granted him bail in 2023 but suspended the order for three weeks so that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) could file an appeal.
The NIA immediately filed a complaint and it was first heard in the SC on September 27 2023. So far, the case has been heard 13 times in the SC. In this trial, the court heard the submissions of the accused and other accused. Since then, activist Shoma Sen was granted bail in April and Gautam Navlakha in May by the SC.
Family members and Raut’s lawyers say the long stay on his bail, which has now been a year, is an unprecedented delay in bringing justice.
“It has been six years since he was imprisoned and the case is yet to begin. Every time we talk to him, we feel that the last year has been very difficult for him in prison. Having received bail, he hoped to be released soon. As the stay has been extended for such a long time, it is a feeling of discomfort and delay in justice,” said a member of the Raut family, who did not wish to be identified. They also added that after getting bail, Raut may have started planning to contribute money to his family as his mother has retired.
Pune police arrested Raut in 2018 alleging his links with the banned outfit, CPI (Maoist). The High Court, while granting bail to Raut, the former Prime Minister for Rural Development, said there was ‘no evidence at all’ that he had received money from his co-accused CPI (Maoist) or that anyone was recruited. about him. A member of his legal team said that although he was allowed to stay, it should have been decided sooner rather than extended, kept in custody even though he has been granted bail for a year now.
In June, the SC had granted Raut an interim bail for two weeks to attend his grandmother’s last rites. Since his return to Taloja prison in July, his stay continues to be extended.
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