The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to a plea filed by activist Gautam Navlakha for bail in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
A Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit scheduled the next hearing for March 15.
Mr. Navlakha, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appealed after the Bombay High Court refused him bail on February 8.
Brief hearing
The Bench, which was hearing another case even after court hours, initially suggested listing Mr. Navlakha’s plea for Thursday. However, Mr. Sibal urged the court to consider Mr. Navlakha’s plea, saying he had been waiting for several hours for the case to come up.
In a brief hearing thereafter, the Bench issued notice to the NIA.
According to the police, some activists allegedly made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishad meet in Pune on December 31, 2017, which triggered violence at Koregaon Bhima in the district the next day.
The police have also alleged that the event was backed by Maoist groups.
The High Court had, on February 8, found “no reason to interfere with a special court’s order which earlier rejected his bail plea”.
