Elgaar Parishad case: NIA opposes Mahesh Raut’s bail plea in Bombay HC

A division bench of Justices Ajey S Gadkari and Shivkumar G Dige posted the hearing on Raut’s bail plea to July 12. Raut had approached the high court with a regular bail plea in 2022 through advocate Vijay Hiremath after the special NIA court had rejected his bail plea in November 2021.

Responding to Mahesh Raut’s prayer seeking relief claiming violation of his fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21, the agency said that as such it was not justifiable for an accused under UAPA to seek relief on constitutional grounds.

The NIA, in its affidavit submitted through advocate Sandesh Patil, added that the alleged acts committed by the applicant had a direct impact on the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India. “Needless to revisit the history even to date the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency has been plaguing this country that caused immense destruction, and very significantly took many lives of police, security personnel, etc, which is principally spearheaded by the Communist Party of India (Maoist),” the affidavit read.

The agency, through Pravin Ingawale, Superintendent of Police, NIA-Mumbai, stated, “The accused is one of those members who is part of giving mileage to such subversive activities against this country. As such, it is not justifiable for an accused of such offence to seek relief on constitutional grounds when his acts are itself against the interest of state and society.”

The NIA claimed that Raut, who was a student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) as per the letters found on the computer of the co-accused, was involved in Maoist activities and should not be granted bail.