SC grants bail to ex professor and activist Shoma Sen in Elgar Parishad case

New Delhi: On Friday, The Supreme Court granted bail to Shoma Sen, activist and former Nagpur University professor in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. She was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links in connection with the case.

Sen, an English literature professor and women’s rights activist, was arrested in connection with the case on June 6, 2018 and was jailed for five-and-a-half years. The NIA alleges that Sen has links with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) outfit.

A plea was filed by Shoma Kanti Sen, challenging a Bombay High Court order that directed her to approach a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court for bail. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and George Augustin Masih ordered her release on conditional bail. It said Sen cannot Maharashtra without the court’s permission and should surrender her passport to the court.

The Supreme Court ruled that only one active phone number would be used to contact Sen and that number will be paired with the investigating officer’s number. The case against Ms Sen and several others revolves around speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held on December 31, 2017 at Pune’s Shaniwarwada.

Authorities claim that these speeches incited violence near the Bhima-Koregaon war memorial the following day, with allegations of Maoist support. Her GPS will remain active for 24 hours so that the investigating officer can track her location. The bench observed that the prosecution could seek the cancellation of bail if the conditions were violated.

According to her, the demonstrations were provocative in nature and led to communal hatred. The complainant said that the speeches delivered at the said event were also provocative.bThe complaint also raised objections to the books kept for sale at the venue, including a book on CPI (Maoist). As a result, according to the prosecution, violence broke out at Bhima Koregaon in Pune on January 1, 2018, in which one person was killed and several people were injured.