Will see if there is material to support arrests: Supreme Court on 5 arrested activists
Arrested activists, Bhima Koregaon case
The five activists — Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj, and Gautam Navlakha — are accused of having links with Naxals. The court said Monday that the final hearing in the plea against their arrests would be held on September 19.
On Monday, the Supreme Court extended the house arrest of the five activists arrested by Maharashtra Police to September 19.
The five rights activists — Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha — were arrested on August 28 by Maharashtra Police.
A day later however, the Supreme Court ordered that the activists were not to be transferred to Maharashtra and were to only be kept under house arrest.
The court was acting on a pllea filed by, among others, the historian Romila Thapar and Delhi University professor Satish Deshpande.
On Monday, the court added that the final hearing in the plea would be held day after.
"Every criminal investigation is based on allegations and we have to see whether there is some material," PTI quoted the bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, as saying.
The bench addedthat if there are some grave lapses, it may consider pleas like an investigation into the case by a Special Investigating Team (SIT).
The plea by Thapar and the others has sought an independent probe into the arrests and the immediate release of the five activists.
The five activists are accused of having links with Naxals. Rights activists on the other hand say the government is stepping down on any and all dissent.
(With inputs from PTI)