The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to activist Jyoti Jagtap, who has been in custody since 2020 in connection with the Elgar Parishad–Maoist links case.
A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma issued the order after senior advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for Jagtap, highlighted that the activist has spent more than five years behind bars. Advocate Karishma Maria also represented Jagtap in the matter.
Earlier, the high court had held that Jagtap was an active member of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), which, during a stage performance at the Elgar Parishad event in Pune on December 31, 2017, had raised slogans described as both aggressive and highly provocative.
"We are of the considered opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing the allegations or accusations of the NIA against the appellant (Jagtap) having conspired, attempted, advocated and abetted the commission of a terrorist act as prima facie true," the high court had said.
The NIA has maintained that the KKM functions as a front organisation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The high court had also dismissed Jagtap’s appeal against a February 2022 order by a special court denying her bail.
The Elgar Parishad event in 2017 was organised at Shaniwarwada, an 18th-century palace-fort in central Pune.
Jagtap, accused of performing songs and raising provocative slogans alongside other KKM members, was arrested in September 2020 and has remained in jail since.
Investigators allege that the purportedly inflammatory speeches delivered at the conclave contributed to the outbreak of violence at Koregaon-Bhima on the outskirts of Pune on January 1, 2018.