Activists arrest case: SC says case may be dissolved on non-availability of evidences

New Delhi: The case of arrest of left-wing activist in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence was heard in Supreme Court on Monday. During the arguments, Maharashtra government said that it has strong evidence on the basis of which arrests have been made. The Centre justified the arrests of the activists Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferriera and Vernon Gonsalves. The court expressed its readiness to examine the evidence against the activists. However, lawyers of the activists argued that the case against them was a false one. And claimed that the arrested were part of the crackdown on dissent against the BJP led government. The lawyers demanded a probe by a special investigation team.

However, the court said that the question of setting up a SIT would arise only if it found that the material was cooked up.

The Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra said we will look into the evidence and give judgment if we find that the evidence is cooked up the case could also be dissolved.

The next hearing will be on Wednesday. All the activists will be under house arrest until then.