[Bhima Koregaon] "Inciting violence and disaffection against government established by law:" Seventeen proposed charges by NIA against accused

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted before the special court seventeen charges against the accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018.

. Fifteen of the accused in the case are in judicial custody while five are absconding. One accused, Father Stan Swamy passed away while in custody.

The charges state that the accused (including Swamy) were active members of a banned terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) even prior to 2018.

Their alleged main object was to establish a Jantana Sarkar (people's government) through revolution and armed struggle to seize power from the State.

. The intention of the accused, the chargesheet alleged, was to "incite violence and spread disaffection towards the government established by law", to commit conspiracy, create disorder in order to threaten the unity, integrity, sovereignty of India.

. Some of the proposed charges are as follows:

That the accused attempted to " wage war against the Governments of India and Maharashtra ”;

For the same, the accused conspired to demand and organise ₹8 crore for annual supply of M-4 (a sophisticated weapon) with 4 lakh rounds and other arms and ammunition from Nepal and Manipur;

The accused allegedly had an intent to strike terror in the minds of people by using other explosive substances and sophisticated weapons like Chinese QLZ 87 Automatic Grenade Launcher and Russian GM-94 Grenade Launcher;

That the accused had been playing provocative songs, enacting short plays, and dance in Pune and distributing Naxalite literature;

That the criminal conspiracy was with an intention to "bring about secession of a part of territory of India" and "incite individuals to bring about such a secession and disrupted territorial integrity of India";

That accused recruited students from various universities including Jawaharlal Nehru University and Tata Institute of Social Science for commission of terrorist activity;

There was a specific allegation against Anand Teltumbde that he "knowingly caused evidence to disappear with an intention of screening the offenders from legal punishment" .

. The First Information Report (FIR) of January 8, 2018 registered after the alleged riots which took place after the ’Elgar Parishad’ event forms the basis of the entire Bhima Koregaon case which led to arrest of 16 accused, and the 3 chargesheets.

. The case was being investigated by the Anti-Terrorist Squad, Pune who filed the first chargesheet of over 5000 pages in November 2018 against 5 arrested accused.

The arrested are activist Rona Wilson, Nagpur lawyer Surendra Gadling, Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, former ‘Prime Minister Rural Development’ fellow Mahesh Raut and Sudhir Dhawale of Republican Panthers.

. A supplementary chargesheet was filed in February 2019 against 4 accused - lawyer activist Sudha Bharadwaj, Telugu poet P Varavara Rao, activists Arun Ferriera and Vernon Gonsalves.

. After NIA took over the investigation, they filed a voluminous chargesheet of over 10,000 pages in October 2020 against 8 persons - Swamy, Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Prof Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and absconding accused Milind Teltumbde.

. The accused have been charged with offences under:

Sections 120B (conspiracy), 115 (abetment), 121, 121A (Waging war against State), 124A (Sedition), 153A (arms in procession), 505(1)(B) (Statements promoting mischief) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 18A, 18B, 20 (Punishment for terrorist activities), 38, 39 and 40 (punishment for being part of terrorist organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

.[Bhima Koregaon] NIA files draft charges against 15 accused in NIA Court. The special court will now hear all parties on these charges before it decides whether to frame charge or discharge the accused.

[Bhima Koregaon] "Inciting violence and disaffection against government established by law:" Seventeen proposed charges by NIA against accused

Neha Joshi

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