In response to a plea filed in the Bombay High Court by all those accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) insisted that an order passed by a Sessions Court judge order was valid. Those accused in the case had stated that the judge who denied them default bail was not authorised to do so.
ASG Anil Singh appeared before a Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar in a petition that states the Pune Sessions Court judge K.D. Wadane was not authorised to take cognisance of the supplementary chargesheet and to grant an extension to the Pune police for filing the chargesheet.
Mr. Singh, representing the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the case, said the two orders passed by the Sessions Court granting an extension to file the chargesheet and to take cognisance of the same are valid orders.
He said there wasn’t a valid bail application filed within the stipulated period of time mentioned in the petition. Talking about Sudha Bharadwaj’s default bail plea he said, it was filed in November 2018 much before her 90 days of custody. He added that default bail pleas by other accused were filed in May and June 2019, which was after the chargesheet was filed in February 2019.
He concluded his arguments by saying that all Sessions Court judges are equal and only a notification distinguishes them.
Referring to the petitions, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni appearing for the Maharashtra government said, “At the highest, this is an ‘irregularity’ not ‘illegality’ and does not vitiate the cognisance taken by the Sessions Court.” The matter will be heard again on August 2.
