[Bhima Koregaon] Youngest accused move special court for bail

Two of the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case from 2018, Mahesh Raut (34) and Jyoti Jagtap (32), have approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking regular bail. This is Jagtap's first bail application..Jagtap was arrested on September 8, 2020 and a chargesheet was filed in October 9, 2020.It was alleged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that she met with wanted-accused Milind Teltumbde in Korchi, and during their stay underwent training related to use of weapons, explosives and physical activities.It was the NIA’s case that Jagtap had attended meetings with the Elgar Parishad's organisers who were allegedly trying to gather a huge public mob of Dalits and other organisations against the government to create hatred against it. .Jagtap stated in her application that there had been a delay of 8 days in filing the First Information Report (FIR). Later, despite being an accused in the FIR, she had not been arrested for over 2 years. The Pune Police, which was initially investigating the case, did not file a single chargesheet against her.That Pune Police did not arrest her because her role was limited to the Elgar Parishad event and the NIA had failed to bring out any new material recovered against her, it was contended..Jagtap was a member of the Kabir Kala March (KKM) which was purportedly a banned organization under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). It was alleged that the cultural group which took up social causes through their music and poetry had been formed after the Gujarat riots of 2002..In her application, she stated that the NIA had failed to produce the bank statement of Jagtap to suggest that she had received any illegal fund for the programmme. Jagtap pointed out that there was a difference between the NIA and the Pune Police's versions of the facts that led to the filing of the FIR.According to the Pune Police it was Sudhir Dhawale with KKM members that organised the event; however the NIA specified KKM members like Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe and Jagtap were organisers..Jagtap contended in her application that even if everything brought on record is assumed to be true, it does not show that there is an offence made out under Section 20 (punishment for being a member of a terror organisation) of the UAPA. Special Judge DE Kothalikar will hear Jagtap's application on November 23, 2021. .Meanwhile the Court heard Raut’s bail application. Advocate Vijay Hiremath appearing for Raut informed the Court that he was a research fellow with the Prime Minister's Rural Development scheme. He had worked in Gadchiroli for three years with the District Collector..The allegations by the NIA against him are that he was providing money and had encouraged students from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to join the organisations and activities of those organisations banned by the government authorities.."There is no evidence to show how many students were sent, where they were sent. There are thousands of students in TISS, but not a single statement has been taken where it has been claimed that Raut was trying to influence students. They have filed thousands of pages of chargesheet but how have they come to this conclusion then," Hiremath argued..He also responded to an allegation against Raut about him working with one Harshali, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, but she had not been arrested..Another allegation was that Raut had supplied money to Surendra Gadling, Shona Sen and Sudhir Dhawale. “There was no reference to any letters or where did the money come to Mahesh in the first place?” Hiremath submitted, He, therefore, argued that, prima facie, there was no evidence and bail could be granted..Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty for the NIA, opposed the bail application by pointing out that the Pune Sessions Court had already rejected Raut’s bail on merits..He argued that to point out a new ground, further investigation ought to have been carried out. No such new ground had arisen so far. Shetty submitted that after the filing of two chargesheets, Raut approached the Court for bail and it was rejected; nothing had changed after that..The Court has reserved the application for orders.