The Supreme Court has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to activist Mahesh Raut’s plea for interim bail to attend post-funeral rituals of his grandmother. Raut, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has been in judicial custody since June 2018.
The apex court’s vacation bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Augustine George Masih, scheduled a hearing for June 21, questioning the necessity of bail given the funeral occurred on May 26. Previously, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to Raut, a decision stayed by the Supreme Court pending the NIA’s appeal. The case involves allegations of Maoist funding and incitement of violence at the Koregaon-Bhima memorial following the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017.