HC declines bail to DU Prof Hany Babu

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected the bail plea filed by Delhi University's associate professor Hany Babu, an accused in the 2017 Elgar Parishad case, noting prima facie allegations against him were true and that he was an active and prominent member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

A division bench of Justices N M Jamdar and N R Borkar said the appeal filed by 54-year-old Babu, arrested in July 2020 in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, against the special court order refusing him bail was dismissed.

"....we find that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against the Appellant are prima facie true," the judgment said.

"The documents submitted by the NIA and the facts unearthed during the investigation, based on which we must proceed at this stage, show that the Appellant (Babu) is an active and prominent member of the CPI (Maoist) Party," the court said.

The bench noted Babu was not just a passive, but an active member of this outfit.

The court, while referring to communication between the accused persons, refers to comrades proposing to take concrete steps to end the 'Modi Raj'. It is stated that 'we' are thinking along the lines of another 'Rajiv Gandhi-type incident', and targeting 'his' road shows could be an effective strategy.