The Supreme Court on Tuesday (16 September 2025) granted interim bail on medical grounds for a period of six weeks to Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case accused Mahesh Raut, who has been under custody since June 2018 after being arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, over alleged Maoist links.
A bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Satish Kumar Sharma passed the order after Senior Advocate CU Singh submitted that Raut is suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the bones and muscles.
Although Additional Solicitor General SV Raju was not present, another counsel appearing on behalf of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed the plea, contending that the allegations against Raut are serious since he is accused of transferring funds to Maoists.
Singh countered by pointing out that Raut was granted bail on merits by the Bombay High Court on 21 September 2023. However, the High Court had stayed its order for a week to allow the NIA to file an appeal. Subsequently, the NIA approached the Supreme Court, where a bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi admitted the appeal and extended the High Court’s one-week stay until 5 October 2023. Since then, the stay has been extended from time to time.
Taking note of the submissions, Justice Sundresh observed that the Court is inclined to grant bail on medical grounds. The bench ordered:
“The applicant is seeking interim bail on medical grounds coupled with the fact that he was actually granted bail, we are inclined to grant medical bail for a period of 6 weeks.”
The plea of co-accused Jyoti Jagtap was also mentioned during the hearing by Senior Advocate Aparna Bhat, who submitted that the case has been pending for the last six to seven years. The bench said it will take up Jagtap’s case in October.
Jagtap, an activist and member of the cultural organisation Kabir Kala Manch, along with 16 others, was accused by the NIA of being responsible for the caste violence at Bhima Koregaon in Pune. According to the Pune Police (and later the NIA), inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad, an event to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima, triggered violent clashes between Maratha and Dalit groups near the village.
Following this, 16 activists, including Jagtap and Raut, were arrested for allegedly conspiring and planning the violence. They were charged under various provisions of the UAPA, based primarily on letters and emails retrieved from their electronic devices.
In February 2022, a special NIA court rejected Jagtap’s bail application, a decision later upheld by the Bombay High Court in October 2022. While dismissing her plea, a division bench of the High Court remarked that the dialogues in Kabir Kala Manch’s plays ridiculing phrases such as ‘Ram Mandir’, ‘Gomutra’, and ‘Acche Din’, which targeted the democratically elected government, incited hatred and indicated a larger conspiracy.
(With inputs from Live Law)
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