Sudha Bharadwaj was released from the Byculla women’s prison after the NIA court set bail conditions.
Mumbai: Lawyer-Activist Sudha Bharadwaj was released today after spending over three years in jail. Sudha was one of the 16 members arrested in The Elgar-Parishad Case. Earlier, Supreme court had rejected the National Investigation Agency’s plea to stay the default bail granted to her by the Bombay High Court on December 1.
Ms Bharadwaj was released from the Byculla women’s prison after the NIA court set bail conditions yesterday. She is the first to be granted default bail in the case.
The case was earlier handled by the Pune Police and was later taken over by the NIA. She was initially lodged at Pune’s Yerwada prison when the state police were investigating the case and was moved to the Byculla women’s prison after the NIA took over. The case is yet to go to trial.
As part of her bail conditions, a special NIA court had said that the 60-year-old activist will have to submit her passport and stay in Mumbai. She has to seek permission from the court to leave city limits.
Ms Bharadwaj can’t interact with the media on the case, the special court had said. Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry, appearing for her, had opposed the condition stating that this is an infringement of her freedom of speech. She was released on a provisional cash bail of ₹ 50,000 and has been directed to visit the nearest police station – physically or through a video call – every fortnight.
She has also been directed to not establish any kind of contact with her co-accused in the case, and not make any international calls.
Ms Bharadwaj was arrested on August 28, 2018, and was later placed under house arrest. She was then taken into custody on October 27, 2018.
The case was filed over alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave on December 31, 2017.
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