Activist Sudha Bharadwaj. File
| Photo Credit rating: The Hindu
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has told a sure court that the two accused violated bail conditions by attending a gathering at the Mumbai Press Membership on January 19 where assorted co-accused within the Elgaar Parishad case had been remark. The Court docket has asked Bharadwaj and Rao to respond to the plea.
A outlandish court on Friday (Could merely 15, 2026) sought the response of legal first rate-activist Sudha Bharadwaj (65) and Telugu poet-activist Varavara Rao (85) to an application filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) within the hunt for cancellation of their bail.
The NIA said Bharadwaj and Rao attended a meeting on the terrace of the Mumbai Press Membership on January 19. In accordance to the company, assorted co-accused within the Elgaar Parishad case had been also remark at the gathering. The NIA added that the bail conditions imposed on the two barred them from speaking with co-accused or with others enthusiastic on identical actions.
Bharadwaj used to be granted bail by the Bombay High Court docket in December 2021. Rao acquired interim bail on scientific grounds in February 2021. The Supreme Court docket confirmed his interim bail in August 2022 after it used to be prolonged several cases.
The NIA said the January 19 gathering used to be supposed to propagate the ideology of the CPI (Maoist) and focus on the prolonged flee of the “City Naxal” circulation. In its application, the company linked a reproduction of the Mumbai Press Membership inquiry committee file, CCTV photos from the gathering, and contact data data of the accused.
Final month, NIA officials contacted remark of job-bearers of the Mumbai Press Membership. This came two days after the club suspended three of its participants following the January 19 tournament. The club’s within committee file had raised concerns about the bail conditions of the accused who attended the gathering.
On Could merely 7, a Mumbai City Civil Court docket stayed the expulsion of one amongst the suspended participants, Gurbir Singh. The court said the motion regarded as if it would possibly well be supposed to forestall him from contesting the club’s elections. It allowed Singh to contest and directed the club’s committee participants to file a response.
All 15 accused arrested within the Elgaar Parishad case were granted bail. The trial has now not started. Lawyer Surendra Gadling stays in custody in a separate case in Gadchiroli. Tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, 84, died in custody in 2021.
Published – Could merely 15, 2026 07:16 pm IST
