7 years in jail without trial: SC hears activist Surendra Gadling’s plea, to expedite proceedings in 2016 Gadchiroli arson case

Gadling, accused of carrying out Maoist activities, is at present in judicial custody at Taloja Central prison in Navi Mumbai in connection with the arson case and the Elgaar Parishad case.

On December 27, 2016, 39 vehicles engaged in transporting iron ore from Surajgarh mines in Gadchiroli were allegedly set on fire by Maoists. Following this, an offence was lodged at the Etapalli police station. In January 2019, Gadling, who was based in Nagpur, and Telugu poet and activist P Varavara Rao were arrested by the Gadchiroli police for their alleged role in the Surjagarh incident.

Earlier, senior advocate Anand Grover, representing Gadling, had told a bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi of the Supreme Court that the key evidence against his client was electronic in nature and the same overlapped with the Elgaar Parishad case.

Grover had argued that while the evidence was required to be furnished before a trial court in Gadchiroli from the special NIA court in Mumbai, the same had not yet done. Grover had also claimed the arson case was proceeding without a permanent public prosecutor.

On Wednesday, Grover argued that Gadling has been behind bars without trial for seven years, despite there being no case on merits against him. His personal liberty was deprived, and therefore, he deserved to be released on bail, he contended.

The Supreme Court said that it would pass an order to expedite the case and ask authorities to bring the evidence to the Gadchiroli court and give a month’s time for the prosecution and the accused to examine the same before arguing for framing of charges.

Justice Maheshwari, while deferring the hearing to the next month, suggested that the court concerned can seek from the registry to appoint an officer to bring electronic records for examination.

The bench also said that the authorities should ensure that proper videoconferencing facility is available whenever Gadling is produced before the Gadchiroli trial court through virtual mode.

Citing prolonged incarceration of over five years without trial, last month, a Bombay High Court bench led by Justice Ajey S Gadkari had granted bail to former Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, Gadling’s co-accused in the Elgaar Parishad case.

“The prolonged incarceration and unlikelihood of the trial being completed in reasonable time or near future, necessitates a consequential release of the undertrial on bail,” the high court had noted.

In January last year, the high court had granted bail to activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale in the Elgaar Parishad case, observing that the trial was unlikely to commence or conclude in the near future.