Bhima Koregaon case: SC rejects plea for SIT; activists' house arrest extended
New Delhi, Sept 28 (IBNS): The Supreme Court on Friday extended the house arrest of five activists, who were earlier detained over terror charges and for inciting violence at Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra in January this year, by four weeks and also rejected a plea seeking a special investigation into the case, media reports said.
The verdict has been passed by a three-judge bench with ratio 2:1.
The top court has said the case is not due to political dissents by Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, activists Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves, who are under house arrest since Aug 29.
The only dissenting judge is Justice DY Chandrachud who has been quoted by NDTV as saying, "There is no basis to link the activists with the allegations by police."
The activists were arrested by Pune Police in multi-city raids on Aug 28 in connection with the Dalit-upper caste violence in Bhima Koregaon.
The activists were freed from judicial custody following the top court's order on Aug 29.
On the same day, the Supreme Court had observed, "dissent is the safety valve of democracy. If dissent is not allowed then the pressure cooker may burst."
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