Bhima Koregaon violence: Supreme Court to hear bail pleas of Jyoti Jagtap, Mahesh Raut together

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it would hear the bail pleas of Jyoti Jagtap and Mahesh Raut, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, together[Jyoti Jagtap v. National Investigation Agency and Another]..A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Aravind Kumar revealed the same while adjourning the bail plea of Jagtap today after hearing her counsel, Senior Advocates Mihir Desai and Aparna Bhat.Counsel for the State of Maharashtra and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) pointed out that the stay on bail granted to Raut had been extended by the top court since September 2023."Okay. We will then hear the matter with that matter (Raut's) only. We will give a date. You (accused) can go and mention the matter. We will decide together. One way or the other," Justice Sundresh then said..Jagtap was alleged to be a member of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), a banned organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The cultural group, which took up social causes through music and poetry, was formed after the Gujarat riots of 2002.She was arrested on September 8, 2020 by the NIA and chargesheeted on October 9, 2020.One of the youngest accused in case, she had initially approached the High Court in appeal after a special NIA court had rejected her bail application on February 14, 2022.The Bombay High Court had in October 2022 rejected her petition, leading to the present appeal..Bhima Koregaon: Supreme Court seeks response of NIA, Maharashtra government in bail pleas of Jyoti Jagtap, Shoma Sen.Pertinently, Raut had been granted regular bail by the Bombay High Court last year. However, the High Court itself had stayed the order for a week after NIA sought time to file an appeal against the same before the Supreme Court.The NIA then moved an appeal before the Supreme Court, which extended the stay further.Before Raut approached the High Court for bail, a special NIA court had rejected his bail plea in November 2021.The NIA alleged that Raut recruited young students from colleges into the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and that the party had given him ₹5 lakh for doing so..The Supreme Court had in May last year sought the response of the Maharashtra government and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the matter.Her co-accused, Raut, has been in jail since June 2018..Supreme Court grants bail to Shoma Sen in Bhima Koregaon case.[Read Order]