Supreme Court Justice MM Sundresh recuses from Surendra Gadling bail case

Supreme Court Justice MM Sundresh on Tuesday recused from hearing the bail plea filed by lawyer and activist Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surajgarh arson case [Surendra Pundalik Gadling vs State of Maharashtra].

According to the details available on the Supreme Court website, the matter is not to be listed before Justice Sundresh.

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court had in January 2023 rejected the bail plea of Gadling in the matter, leading to the instant appeal before the Supreme Court through advocate Nupur Kumar.

In December 2016, around 39 vehicles engaged in transporting iron ore from Surajgarh mines in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra were allegedly set on fire by Maoists.

The Gadchiroli Police then registered an FIR for offences punishable under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 341, 342 (wrongful restraint and constraint), 435 (mischief by fire explosive), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 143, 147 (punishment for rioting), 148, 149 (rioting in unlawful assembly) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 16, 18, 20 and 23 (punishment for terrorist activities) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and certain provisions of the Arms Act.

Gadling was among those implicated for the incident and he was charged with UAPA offences.

The High Court order had stated that allegations that Gadling had direct membership of the banned organisation, Communist Party of India (Maoist) seemed to be prima facie true.

The High Court had observed that the seriousness of the allegations far outweighed the submissions made for bail.

Gadling is also an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018, which is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Gadling is presently in judicial custody at the Taloja Central Prison.