NIA’s plea dismissed by SC, Teltumbde may be freed today, Legal News, ET LegalWorld – Legal Firms

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the NIA’s plea for cancellation of bail granted to UAPA accused Anand Teltumbde, who allegedly had a nexus with the banned CPI-Maoist organisation, but clarified that his trial in the Elgar Parishad case would be held uninfluenced by the Bombay high court’s observations on “absence of prima facie evidence of terrorist activities” by him.

This is the first instance where the courts have granted bail to an accused in the Elgar Parishad case after weighing the merits of the evidence. The two earlier accused granted bail were Varavara Rao and Sudha Bharadwaj. While Rao was granted bail on medical grounds, Bharadwaj was granted default bail as the prosecution failed to file the charge sheet within the stipulated time limit.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli allowed additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati and counsel Kanu Agrawal to present in detail the NIA’s “evidence” linking Teltumbde to alleged participation in CPI-Maoist activities targeting security forces while maintaining a front of propagating Dalit uplift philosophy as an academician.

Teltumbde’s counsel Kapil Sibal trashed the evidence and said none of it linked his client to any terrorist activities. “He had gone abroad 64 times all at his own expense and there is no evidence to show that it was funded by CPI-Maoist. He is an academician and the HC has given a finding after analysing the evidence. Why should the SC interfere with a well reasoned order giving liberty to a person,” he asked.

On Friday evening, R J Katariya, special judge NIA court, Mumbai, issued the memo for Teltumbde’s release on bail. He is likely to be released from Taloja jail on Saturday.