Elgaar case: Court refuses to cancel bail of 4 accused over Press Club gathering

The NIA had sought cancellation of bail of lawyers Sudha Bharadwaj and Arun Ferreira, Telugu poet Varavara Rao and activist Vernon Gonsalves, alleging that they had breached a condition prohibiting them from contacting or communicating with co-accused. The agency claimed the four attended a January 19 gathering at the Press Club to discuss ways of furthering the ‘Urban Naxal’ movement.

“The prosecution has to establish it at least with some sort of acceptable evidence,” the court said, noting there was no evidence to show that the accused had gathered with the specific intention of propagating the activities of the banned CPI (Maoist).

The court said the purpose of the bail condition was to prevent the accused from engaging in “similar activities” to those alleged in the case. “Sans any evidence to that effect, certainly, mere gathering of the accused falls short to conclude that, the bail condition is breached,” it said.

The court, however, said the accused should have exercised greater caution and recused themselves from the gathering to avoid any complications.

It also examined CCTV footage of the gathering, which had no audio. The court said the mood and body language visible in the footage did not indicate that the accused were discussing serious issues such as the ideology of the banned organisation.

Bharadwaj was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2021, while Rao was granted interim bail on medical grounds in February 2021, which was later confirmed by the Supreme Court in August 2022. Gonsalves and Ferreira were granted bail by the Supreme Court in July 2023. The trial is yet to begin.