Women’s Rights Advocate Shoma Sen Was Given Bail in the Bhima Koregaon Case by the SC

Professor and women’s rights advocate Shoma Sen was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday in relation to her accusation in the Bhima Koregaon case. Her bail request was denied by the Bombay High Court, but the ruling was overturned by a panel of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih. The Supreme Court granted Sen bail after observing that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not object to her release.

“We have seen that, in addition to her medical issues, she is elderly and the impact of postponing the trial at this time. In its ruling, the bench said that she shouldn’t be denied the opportunity to be freed on bond.

Sen was granted bail, but the supreme court placed restrictions on her release, ordering her to give up her passport and not leave the state of Maharashtra.

The highest court ordered Sen to notify NIA of her address. The court directed her to use a single cellphone number, notify the NIA officer of it, and make sure it is charged and current.

To determine her whereabouts, it was said that her mobile phone’s GPS must be turned on and that it must be synced with an NIA officer’s phone.

The bench went on to state that the prosecution may request the termination of bail if the terms are broken.

Prior to the chargesheet being submitted and the investigation being concluded, NIA had already notified the supreme court that it was no longer seeking Sen’s custody.

Sen has appealed the Bombay High Court’s decision to deny her bail, citing her worsening health as justification for seeking temporary release.

In January 2023, the Bombay High Court ordered Professor Sen to appear before the special NIA court for bail before going before the High Court.

Sen, a professor of English literature, has been imprisoned since June 6, 2018, having committed offenses under the UAPA. Before the chargesheet was filed in December 2018 and again subsequently, she had asked for bail before the Pune Sessions Court; however, the Sessions Court denied both of her requests in November 2019.

Sen, the previous head of the department at Nagpur University, then petitioned the Bombay High Court for bail. But the High Court turned down her request for release. She then went to the highest court.

Sen and others were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in relation to the caste-based violence that occurred in Pune’s Bhima Koregaon in 2018 and for allegedly having connections to the Communist Party of India (Maoists), an organization that is banned.