On April 5, the Supreme Court granted bail to former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, who was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.
Sen had been arrested on June 6, 2018, and had remained in custody awaiting trial. The Bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih ruled that the restrictions for bail under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA would not apply in Sen’s case. They took into account Sen’s advanced age, health issues, prolonged incarceration, delay in trial commencement, and the nature of accusations against her.
It is noteworthy that the National Investigation Agency (NIA), when questioned by the Court on March 15 about the necessity of Sen’s detention, stated that her further custody was not required. This statement was considered by the Court in its decision.
The Court directed that Sen must not leave the State of Maharashtra without the Special Court’s permission. She was also instructed to surrender her passport and provide her address and mobile number to the investigating officer. Additionally, Sen must keep her mobile phone’s location and GPS active and pair it with the investigating officer’s device for location tracking.
The Division Bench heard a petition challenging a January 2023 Bombay High Court order directing Sen to seek bail from the special court handling her case.
Sen, aged 62, is the sixth out of sixteen accused in the case to receive bail. Sudha Bharadwaj obtained default bail in 2021, while Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, and Arun Ferreira received bail on merits in 2022 and 2023. Varavara Rao was granted bail on medical grounds, and Gautam Navlakha was shifted to house arrest due to health reasons by the Supreme Court. However, bail orders for Navlakha and Mahesh Raut by the Bombay High Court were stayed and extended by the Supreme Court. Father Stan Swamy, another accused, passed away in custody in July 2021.
In submissions before the Supreme Court, Senior Advocate Anand Grover highlighted the lack of evidence linking Sen to the case under the UAPA or establishing her alleged links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Grover also emphasized Sen’s age, health, and prolonged detention as grounds for bail.
On the other hand, the National Investigation Agency, represented by Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, challenged the maintainability of Sen’s bail application in the Supreme Court. NIA supported the High Court’s decision to remand the bail application to the special court, citing the filing of an additional chargesheet. Nataraj argued that even if the High Court’s order was incorrect, the entire material should be considered as an appellate court. NIA also rejected Sen’s argument regarding the lack of incriminating evidence in the supplementary chargesheets, asserting that there are materials implicating Sen in the UAPA case as part of the frontal organization of proscribed Maoist organizations.
