Today, the Supreme Court postponed for a period of four weeks a petition filed by activist Jyoti Jagtap, who was arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. The petition challenges a Bombay High Court decision that denied her bail.

A Bench consisting of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi postponed the case following a request by advocate Aparna Bhat, who represented Jagtap in court. Bhat requested extra time to submit a rejoinder to an affidavit from the NIA (National Investigation Agency). The Supreme Court granted Jagtap a three-week extension to file her rejoinder.

Jagtap has moved the apex court challenging the October 17, 2022 order of the high court that refused to grant her bail, saying the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) case against her was "prima facie true" and that she was part of a "larger conspiracy" hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit.On July 28, a Bench led by Justice Bose granted bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, taking into account their five-year-long detention. 

The high court had asserted that Jagtap was an active member of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) group, and during their theatrical performance at the "Elgar Parishad" gathering in Pune on December 31, 2017, they not only delivered "aggressive" slogans but also highly provocative ones.

"We are of the considered opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing the allegations or accusations of the NIA against the appellant (Jagtap) having conspired, attempted, advocated and abetted the commission of a terrorist act as prima facie true," the court had said.

Jagtap, who was accused of singing and chanting provocative slogans during the conclave alongside other members of KKM, was arrested in September 2020 and has remained incarcerated at the Byculla women's prison in Mumbai ever since. According to investigators, the alleged provocative speeches delivered at the conclave were believed to have incited the violence that erupted at Koregaon-Bhima on the outskirts of Pune on January 1, 2018.

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