Elgar Parishad case: Court denies bail to six activists

PUNE: A special UAPA court on Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of six of the nine arrested activists in the Elgar Parishad case, holding that the material brought on record by the prosecution revealed they were not only members of a banned organisation but were also “doing everything” to achieve its aims.
“This is against democracy,” judge S R Navandar said while pronouncing the operative part of his order, in which he denied bail to accused Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, P Varavara Rao, Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen.
Nine activists have been arrested so far for their alleged links with the banned CPI (Maoist), which, Pune police claim, supported and funded the Elgar Parishad in the city on December 31, 2017.
Allegedly inflammatory speeches at the event contributed to the January 1, 2018, caste clashes at Koregaon Bhima, police said. The court will hear on Thursday the anticipatory bail application of activist Gautam Navlakha.