ON THURSDAY, the Bombay High Court granted regular bail to former Delhi University professor Hany Babu in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case.
A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale ordered Babu’s release on the ground of prolonged pre-trial incarceration.
Babu was arrested on April 14, 2020 and has been in jail ever since. He has spent more than five years behind bars as an undertrial prisoner.
The Bench directed Babu to report to the office of the National Investigating Agency (‘NIA’) in Mumbai on the first Monday of every calendar month between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and mark his attendance until the conclusion of the trial.
He was also directed not to leave the territorial jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court without prior permission from the Special Judge, NIA, City Civil and Sessions Court, Greater Mumbai.
“It is by now a well-settled and recognised principle of law that prolonged incarceration without trial amounts to an infringement of the right of an accused enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The prolonged incarceration and the unlikelihood of the trial being completed within a reasonable time or in the near future necessitate the consequential release of the undertrial on bail,” the Bench held.
High Court relied on the K.A. Najeeb (2021) and Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh (2024) judgments
In support of its order, the Bench heavily relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb (2021), in which it was held that statutory restrictions such as Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 do not, per se, oust the jurisdiction of constitutional courts to grant bail on grounds of violation of Part III of the Constitution.
The Bench also relied upon the Supreme Court’s ruling in Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra (2024), wherein it was held that if the State or the prosecuting agency lacks the wherewithal to protect an accused’s fundamental right to a speedy trial under Article 21, the State or prosecuting agency should not oppose bail merely on the ground that the crime is serious. Article 21 applies irrespective of the nature of the crime.
In the present case, the prosecution has cited approximately 363 witnesses, and the chargesheet runs into more than 20,000 pages. The trial is not likely to commence in the near future, let alone conclude anytime soon.
Babu’s discharge application has been pending for final adjudication for nearly three years. Consequently, charges have not even been framed against him.
12 persons arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case are now out on bail
Several prominent activists were arrested for allegedly instigating violence through inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad event held on December 31, 2017, which is linked to the Bhima Koregaon violence in early January 2018. A total of sixteen persons were arrested in the case. They are:
I. Surendra Gadling
II. Mahesh Raut
III. Hany Babu
IV. Sagar Gorkhe
V. Ramesh Gaichor
VI. Jyoti Jagtap
VII. Sudha Bharadwaj
VIII. Anand Teltumbde
IX. Vernon Gonsalves
X. Arun Ferreira
XI. P. Varavara Rao
XII. Shoma Sen
XIII. Gautam Navlakha
XIV. Rona Wilson
XV. Sudhir Dhawale
XVI. Fr. Stan Swamy
As many as twelve accused are out on bail:
On February 22, 2021, the Bombay High Court granted P. Varavara Rao medical bail. Later, the Supreme Court granted permanent medical bail to him.
On December 1, 2021, the Bombay High Court granted Sudha Bharadwaj default bail. Later, the Supreme Court confirmed her release on bail.
On November 18, 2022, the Bombay High Court granted Anand Teltumbde bail on merits. Later, the Supreme Court dismissed NIA’s plea against his bail.
On July 28, 2023, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira were granted regular bail by the Supreme Court on July 28, 2023 after finding no prima facie case against them.
On April 5, 2024, Shoma Sen was granted regular bail by the Supreme Court finding no prima facie case against her.
On May 14, 2024, the Supreme Court lifted the stay on the bail earlier granted to Gautam Navlakha.
In January 2025, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale.
Recently, co-accused Jyoti Jagtap was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court, while Mahesh Raut was granted interim bail on medical grounds. Raut already has an order in his favour on merits, but the Supreme Court continued the stay on his regular bail for two years.
Now, the Bombay High Court granted Hany Babu bail.
The bail applications of Surendra Gadling, Sagar Gorkhe, and Ramesh Gaichor are pending before the Bombay High Court. Gadling, arrested in 2018, has completed more than seven years in pre-trial detention.
On July 5, 2021, Jesuit priest and tribal-rights activist Father Stan Swamy died in judicial custody while his plea for medical bail was still pending.
