Elgar Parishad case accused Sudha Bharadwaj moves Bombay HC for default bail

Lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, who is currently lodged in Mumbai's Byculla Women's Jail after her arrest in the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking bail on the ground that the chargesheet in the case against her was not filed within the statutory period of 90 days.

Lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, who is currently lodged in Mumbai's Byculla Women's Jail after her arrest in the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking bail on the ground that the chargesheet in the case against her was not filed within the statutory period of 90 days. Bharadwaj has filed for 'default bail'. Gautam Navlakha, another accused in the case, had also sought similar bail, however, it was rejected by the high court. The allegation against Bharadwaj was that certain documents recovered in the case indicate that she and other accused were 'active member' of the banned organisation CPI (Maoist). In her bail plea under Section 167(2) of the Criminal procedure Code (CrPC), Bharadwaj contended that the investigation agency had failed to file its chargesheet within the time limit of 90 days as prescribed under law. The chargesheet against Bharadwaj was filed by the Pune Police, though the investigation was later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The trial in the case is yet to begin.