Elgaar Parishad case: Special court rejects Shoma Sen’s interim bail application

Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty said that similar pleas filed by other accused have been rejected earlier and Covid-19 could not be a ground for release now.

Professor Shoma Sen (Express Photo by Monica Chaturvedi)

A special court on Tuesday rejected the interim bail application of Shoma Sen, a former professor at Nagpur University, who was arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case in 2018.

Sen, through her lawyers Sharif Shaikh and Kritika Agarwal, has submitted that she is suffering from hypertension, blood pressure and other ailments, which make her vulnerable to Covid-19.

She added that since guidelines have been issued by the government in regard to releasing a certain category of prisoners on bail due to the pandemic, she should be considered for release.

Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty said that similar pleas filed by other accused have been rejected earlier and Covid-19 could not be a ground for release now. To this, Shaikh argued that the notifications regarding Covid-19 still remain in place.

“The prison authority shall observe medical protocol and provide appropriate medical aid to the applicant (Sen), if required,” special judge Dinesh E Kothalikar said.

On Tuesday, the court also allowed an application filed by activist Rona Wilson seeking an extension of his temporary bail by three days. Wilson was allowed bail earlier this month for two weeks to attend rituals following his father’s death last month. The NIA did not oppose his plea, following which the court said that Wilson could return to jail on September 30, instead of September 27.