The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against the bail granted to scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said it would not interfere with the Bombay High Court order granting bail to Teltumbde. The high court on November 18 had granted bail to Teltumbde, noting that prima facie the only case made out against him relates to alleged association with a terror group and support given to it, for which the maximum punishment is 10 years in jail.
The high court, however, had stayed its bail order for a week so that the NIA, the probe agency in the case, could approach the Supreme Court.
Teltumbde, 73, is the third accused of the total 16 arrested in the case to be released on bail. Poet Varavara Rao is currently out on bail on health grounds while lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj is out on regular bail.
