Today, the Supreme Court agrees to hear petition by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the bail granted to tribal rights activist Mahesh Raut in the Bhima Koregaon case over alleged maoist list.

The Court extended the stay, originally granted by the Bombay High Court, on the bail order until the upcoming hearing scheduled for October 5.

A division bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi presided over the proceedings concerning the special leave petition filed by the central agency, challenging the orders of Bombay High Court's ,  grant bail to Mahesh Raut.

The High Court observed that there was no prima facie evidence to substantiate the charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, it had suspended the execution of the order for a one-week duration.

During today's hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the NIA, asserted that there are incriminating letters that shows the accused's connections with banned Maoist organizations.

To this, Justice Bose said that the bench would personally review and consider the appeal.

The Additional Solicitor General (ASG) then requested an extension of the stay granted by the High Court, as it was set to expire on that day. Senior Advocate Mihir Desai, representing Mahesh Raut, countered by highlighting that Raut had been in custody for over five and a half years since his arrest in June 2018 and pointed out that he was a student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Desai further noted that the case falls under the purview of the Supreme Court's recent judgment in the Vernon Gonsalves case, in which bail was granted to two co-accused individuals, Vernon and Arun Ferreira.

"One more week will not make much difference", ASG said pressing for stay. After the short hearing, the bench pronounced the order as follows :

"Leave granted. List on October 5. The stay already granted by Bombay High Court on operation of judgment and order shall continue until next date of hearing."

Case Details - National Investigation Agency v. Mahesh Sitaram Raut