BackElgar case: Anand Teltumbde gets bail, HC says he has spent over 2 years in jail
Elgar case accused Anand Teltumbde has been granted bail in the Elgar Parishad case. While granting bail, the HC said Anand Teltumbde has already spent more than two years in jail
PremiumNoting that the only case against him is of alleged association with terror outfits and providing support to it, for which the maximum punishment is 10 years, the Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde who was arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. The court, however, stayed its order for a week so that the prosecution agency National Investigation Agency (NIA) can appeal in Supreme Court against the order.
This means that Teltumbde will not immediately walk out of the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, where he is been lodged since his arrest in April 2020. A division bench of Justice A S Gadkari and M N Jadhav noted that he already spent more than two years in jail and agreed to grant him bail on the surety of Rs. 1 lakh.
While pronouncing its order, the bench observed that prima facie, the charges made against Teltumbde are under section 38 (association with a terrorist organization) and 39 (support given to a terrorist organization) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
"The maximum punishment in those offenses is 10 years of imprisonment, and the applicant (Teltumbde) has already been incarcerated for more than two years in prison," the court noted.
Last year, Teltumde filed a bail plea in the high court claiming that he was never present at December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad event in Pune where the alleged provocative speeches were made. He was the third accused in the case, out of 16 and NIA claimed that he was part of the event that was allegedly backed by the banned terrorist organization CPI (Maoist), the event later ended up in violence at Bhima Koregaon village near Pune in which one person was killed while several were injured.
NIA opposed his bail claiming that Anand Teltumbde was secretly in touch with his brother Milind Teltumbde, who was allegedly a Maoist leader and was killed last November in an encounter with security forces. Teltumbde's lawyer submitted that, as the charge sheet does not mention charges of terror against him, there can be no bar on releasing him on bail under the UAPA.
With inputs from agencies
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
