The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended till October 5 the stay imposed by the Bombay High Court on an order granting bail to forest rights activist Mahesh Raut in the Bhima Koregaon case, reported Live Law.

A bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi passed the order on an appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency challenging the High Court’s bail order.

Raut was granted bail on September 21 on the grounds that there was no material to support the accusations levelled against him that attracted sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

However, the agency has claimed that there was evidence to show that Raut had links to banned Maoist outfits. His bail order was stayed for a week by the Bombay High Court after it sought time to file an appeal.

Appearing for the agency on Wednesday, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju reiterated that there was incriminating evidence suggesting links between Raut and banned Maoist outfits. He urged the court to extend the stay on his bail. “One more week will not make much difference,” he said.

In response, senior advocate Mihir Desai, appearing for Raut, said that the activist has already been in jail for over 5.5 years. He also submitted that the Supreme Court’s July judgement stating…

Read more