Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to five persons who were arrested for their alleged connection in the 2018 Nallasopara arms haul case and for allegedly conspiring to attack the Sunburn festival in Pune, observing that prima facie there is “insufficient evidence” to prove the conspiracy charge.
The high court also took note of their long incarceration with bleak chances of the trial ending soon.The HC was hearing appeals filed by the five accused — Sujith Rangaswamy, Amit Baddi, Ganesh Miskin, Shrikant Pangarkar and Bharat Kurane — challenging the order of the special court refusing to grant them bail.
In 2018, the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested five persons after it seized arms, ammunition and explosives from the residence of two other accused in Nallasopara area. The ATS had claimed the arms and explosives were to be used to target the Sunburn festival in Pune in December 2017.
After going through the statements of witnesses and evidence submitted by the prosecution, the court said they were insufficient. “We have prima facie formed an opinion that these statements are insufficient to establish the charge of conspiracy against the appellants before us,”.a bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on July 30.
The Sunburn programme was, in fact, successfully completed without any disturbance. They were arrested in the last week of August 2018, which is eight months after the programme was over.
So far only two witnesses have been summoned for the trial till date and the prosecution intends to examine 417 witnesses in the case. The bench added that the “chances of timely completion of trial appear to be bleak. Speedy trial has received recognition of the fundamental right of a person facing accusations.”
The bench granted bail to all five accused on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each and directed them to appear before the ATS's Mumbai office once a month and before the trial court for each hearing.
The ATS had raided premises of Sharad Kalaskar and Vaibhav Raut and seized arms, ammunition and explosives from Nallasopara. Based on their statements, the ATS arrested 10 others.
According to the ATS, the accused were active members of right-wing groups, Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, and were influenced by the philosophy of creation of a 'Hindu Rashtra'. They allegedly formed a gang to oppose anti-Hindu elements in the society. They allegedly conspired to target music festivals and shows, including the 2017 Sunburn festival in Pune.
