Thread by @lawbarandbench

The Supreme Court to shortly hear bail pleas of activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.

Matter before Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

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Hearing begins.

Counsel seeks adjournment on behalf of ASG, court says they will hear Senior Advocate Rebecca John for now.

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Sr Adv John gives court a background on the FIR.

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Sr Adv John: It appears through the chargesheet that five persons came to be arrested, only one of whom was named in the FIR.

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Sr Adv John: As of today, we have 4 years 4 months of judicial custody.

The trial court has sent a report to this court that the entire process will take a year.

Court: What is current status?
John: They are hearing discharge
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Sr Adv John: The State has admittedly not opened its case.

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Court: So, charges have not been framed?

John: Nowhere near being framed! The report of the Ld. Judge is before this court.. I’ll come to that. The NIA files a second supplementary charge sheet two years after my arrest.
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Sr Adv John: The sum & substance of the allegations against me.. I’ll take you to the highest.. there are three documents..

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Sr Adv John takes court through documents relied on by prosecution.

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Sr Adv John points out how most documents do not even name Gonsalves.

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Sr Adv John reads statement of protected witness.

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Court: What does he do, Mr Vernon?

Sr Adv John: He was a gold medallist at Mumbai University, retired.. after cases registered he became unemployable and wrote columns for “reputed” websites etc.

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Sr Adv John: Only one UAPA case from 2007 I am convicted. My appeal is pending before Nagpur HC.

All other matters - 313 statements were dispensed with because there was no evidence against me.

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Sr Adv John: What is the evidence against me today? In this case?

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John: In UAPA, getting discharged is impossible.. with so many presumptions against us.

As far as I’m concerned, three documents where my name is randomly taken and one statement from 2002, we’ve seen nature of convictions

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Sr Adv John: Other than UAPA, would this stand the test of judicial scrutiny particularly with Anand Teltumbde on bail?

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Sr Adv John: Other than Teletumbde, three people are on bail - Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha. I seek parity.

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Sr Adv John shows judgment in case of Teletumbde.

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Sr Adv John discusses case of National Investigation Agency vs Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.

indiankanoon.org/doc/117627977/

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Sr Adv John: In UAPA, I have to show that I am not prima facie guilty.

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Sr Adv John: My last argument is, four and a half years we’ve suffered. This Hon’ble court had asked us to try and complete and then the Trial Judge has stated that we cannot conclude for one more year.

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John: The NIA says we’ll open our case once you finish arguments.

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Court now considers that since ASG is unavailable due to Constitution Bench, hearing will continue tomorrow.

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Hearing concludes.

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