New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, arrested and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.
A bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Augustine George Masih said “if we examine the acts attributed to the appellant by the various witnesses or as inferred from the evidence relied on by the prosecution, we do not find prima facie commission or attempt to commit any terrorist act by the appellant…” in terms of the Act.
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Tuesday 21 Jan. 2025
The apex court, however, clarified that “our observations as regards the nature of allegations against her are only prima facie views and the future course of her prosecution would be dependent upon framing of charge and if charges are framed, the nature of evidence the prosecution can adduce against her in trial as also her own defence”.
The bench also took note of her “advanced age”, “ailments”, delay in framing charges and period of detention already undergone.
Sen was arrested on June 6, 2018 in Nagpur, and has been under custody since then. “At present, the appellant has been in detention for almost six years, her age is over 66 years and charges have not yet been framed,” the court said.
The bench directed that she shall not leave Maharashtra without the leave of the trial court, surrender her passport, inform NIA her address, use only one mobile number which shall be intimated to NIA, ensure that the phone remains active and charged round the clock, keep its location status (GPS) active, and pair the phone with that of the NIA Investigating Officer to enable him to identify her exact location.
It also asked her to report to the SHO of the police station within whose jurisdiction she shall reside, once every fortnight. Any breach of these or those imposed by the trial court would give the agency the right to seek cancellation of the bail before the trial court without approaching it, the SC said.
On the admitted position that she was present at Shaniwarwada within the district of Pune on December 31, 2017, when the Elgar Parishad event took place, the court said, “but there is no allegation at this stage that apart from being present, she had any further active participation on that date in the programme”.
The NIA which probed the case had contended that Sen “is an active member of CPI (Maoist) and conspired with other accused persons to violently overthrow democracy and the State”. According to the agency, she allegedly provided and received party funds from a co-accused, Mahesh Raut, “and made attempts to further terrorist activities of the banned CPI (Maoist)”.
