Mumbai, 23 Jan 

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case, on the grounds of parity, noting that other accused have been granted similar relief.

Gorkhe and Gaichor were arrested in September 2020 and are presently lodged at the Taloja prison.

The duo is accused of being active members of the banned CPI (Maoist) group.

A bench, headed by Justice AS Gadkari, noted that several other accused in the case have been granted bail on the grounds of long incarceration and the possibility of the trial in the case not commencing in the near future.

"Hence on the ground of parity, the two appellants (Gorkhe and Gaichor) too deserve to be released on bail," it said.

The duo has been directed to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh each and to attend the National Investigation Agency's office once a month.

At least 16 people, including prominent lawyers, activists, and academics, were booked in connection with allegedly provocative speeches that were delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on 31 December 2017.

According to the police, the speeches triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima, on the outskirts of Pune city, the next day.

The Pune police, which initially probed the case, claimed that Maoists had backed the conclave. The NIA later took over the probe into the case.

All except one accused, Surendra Gadling, have now been granted bail in the case.

Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old priest and tribal rights activist, died while in custody in July 2021, awaiting trial.

The other accused in the case include Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Jyoti Jagtao and Mahesh Raut.