The Supreme Court Monday refused to quash Pune Police’s FIR against alleged Urban Naxal Anand Teltumbde for his alleged involvement in the Koregaon Bhima violence and also in connection with the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Modi.
According to the reports, a Bench comprising of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice S K Kaul refused to interfere with the ongoing investigation in the case and ordered Teltumbde to seek regular bail from the competent trial court. However, the apex court granted accused Urban Naxal Anand Teltumbde protection from arrest for four weeks.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court had on December 21 dismissed the petition filed by Teltumbde seeking the quashing of the FIR and granted him interim protection from arrest for three weeks.
The Pune Police had conducted raids and arrested the self-proclaimed activists Gautam Navlakha, P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonzalves, Arun Pereira, Sudha Bhardwaj, Anand Teltumbde and Stan Swamy in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence and for their alleged involvement in a plot to kill PM Modi. The arrested persons were accused of links with Maoists networks.
The arrests were in relation to the Bhima Koregaon violence. Earlier, the Pune police had arrested Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and Sudhir Dhavle in the case. The arrested persons in August raids had moved to the Supreme court and had obtained an order for house arrest instead of judicial custody.
The Supreme Court had declined an urgent hearing of a review petition filed by historian Romila Thapar in the case of the arrests of five ‘Urban Naxals’ for their alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence.
The Supreme court headed by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on September 28 had refused to interfere with arrests of these five ‘Urban Naxals’ and had extended the interim house arrest of the activists. The apex court proceedings had ruled that ‘dissenting views expressed or difference in political ideology’ had nothing to do with the case.
