Four eminent persons including historian Romila Thapar have moved Supreme Court against the arrest of five rights activists by the Maharashtra Police for suspected Maoist links.
Four eminent persons including historian Romila Thapar have moved Supreme Court against the arrest of five rights activists by the Maharashtra Police for suspected Maoist links.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders.
The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.
After simultaneous searches at the residences, prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi were arrested.
The petition against the arrest of the activists was mentioned before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra which agreed to give an urgent hearing today itself at 3:45 PM.
Among those who have moved court include Romila Thapar, Prabhat Patnaik, Satish Deshpande, Maya Darnall.
The petitioners have sought the release of all activists who have been arrested during raids in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case and demanded an independent probe.
The petitioners have also urged the apex court to seek explanation from Maharashtra for 'sweeping round of arrest' in the case.
Meanwhile, the High Court has fixed for 2:15 pm the hearing on the plea of rights activist Gautam Navlakha, claiming his arrest by Maharashtra Police to be illegal.
Several prominent people including Historian Ramachandra Guha, award-winning author Arundhati Roy have criticised the arrest
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