Advocate Surendra Gadling is the only one to continue languishing in the jail in the Bhima Koregaon case, after 15 other accused have been released on bail, some with conditions.
The Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) on Monday, March 30, demanded the immediate release of it’s general secretary and eminent advocate from Nagpur Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon and the Surajgarh mine arson cases in Maharashtra for the past eight years.
Gadling is the only one to continue languishing in jail in the Bhima Koregaon case after 15 others accused have been released on bail with some conditions. His discharge petition has been posted for hearing in the Supreme Court this week.
Members of IAPL held a round-table meeting in Hyderabad, where they demanded the release of all political prisoners and the withdrawal of all cases on the activists filed under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Demanding the repeal of UAPA, they also demanded an end to the intimidation of activists in the name of “naxalism” and “urban naxalism,” the terms which have not been defined in the dictionary.
The background and the urgent need
One of the team members of the amicus curiae representing revolutionary poet P Varavara Rao. who is accused no 2 in the Bhima Koregaon case, said that Gadling was not only falsely implicated in the case, but also in the Surajgarh mine arson case that allegedly happened two years before it.
Giving the specifics of the Surajgarh case, an advocate said that according to the complainant, around 40-50 people in olive green uniforms and 60-70 in civilian clothing had allegedly set fire to 60-70 of the 100-150 trucks that were carrying iron ore extracts at the time of the incident.
“The complainant has neither given the registration number of his vehicle that was torched, nor has he submitted that he had any acquaintance with either Gadling or Rao. There were a lot of omissions in the complaint, first information report (FIR) and statements recorded,” the advocate alleged.
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India: IAPL demands release of advocate Surendra Gadling from Maharashtra jail
