SC reserves order in Bhima Koregaon case

New Delhi, Sep 20: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on the petitions filed by Romila Thapar and others challenging the arrest of activists in Bhima Koregaon case. The apex court has also asked parties to file their written notes by Monday.

The Supreme Court Wednesday had extended the house arrest of five rights activists. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud will continue with the hearing on Thursday on the plea filed by historian Romila Thapar and four others.

At the last hearing in the case on September 17, the top court had said it may order a probe by a special investigating team (SIT) if it found that the evidence has been "cooked up". It had also said that the material, supporting the arrest of the five activists in the case, needed to be examined.

The five activists - Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha - were arrested by Maharashtra Police on August 28 in connection with an FIR lodged following the Elgaar Parishad event held on December 31 last year that had later triggered violence at Bhima-Koregaon village.

(With PTI inputs)