Activist arrests: SC extends house arrest of 5 activists till September 12

SC has extended house arrest of five rights activists in Koregaon-Bhima case till September 12.

The apex court took strong note of statements of ACP of Pune Police, saying that he is casting aspersions on this court. "You must ask your police officials to be more responsible. The matter is before us and we don't want to hear from police officials that the Supreme Court is wrong," the bench told Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for Maharashtra government.

The Maharashtra police argued that keeping the five activists—Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonzalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bhardwaj and Gautam Navalakha—in house arrest will hamper the investigation in the case. The police said that these arrests had nothing to do with the dissenting opinions or the political ideologies of the activists but it was because of “serious criminal offences” and incriminating material.

The Supreme Court asked petitioners Romila Thapur and others to satisfy it whether a third-party can intervene in a criminal case.

On August 28, the Maharashtra police had raided the homes of several activists in many states arresting five of them which caused an uproar from across the country.