Mumbai: Father Stan Swamy, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, moved the Bombay High Court on April 26, challenging the rejection of his bail plea.
The appeal mentioned the increase in COVID-19 cases in prison and that custodial interrogation is no longer needed as the chargesheet in the case has been filed. The Jesuit priest and activist, who turned 84 on Monday, was arrested from Ranchi on October 9, 2020, and is currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail. Father Swamy suffers from hearing loss, Parkinson’s disease, and lumbar spondylosis.
He filed the appeal against the rejection of his bail plea by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on March 22 and the rejection of his medical bail on October 22, 2020. The NIA court had said, “Prima facie it can be gathered that Fr. Swamy along with other members of the banned organisation, hatched a serious conspiracy to create unrest in the entire country and to overpower the government politically and by using muscle power.”
Special judge D.E. Kothalikar had said, “The material placed on record thus prima facie denotes that the applicant [Fr. Swamy] was not only a member of the banned organisation, Communist Party of India (Maoist), but was also carrying out activities with the objective of the organisation, which is nothing but to overthrow the democracy of the nation.”
In October 2020, he sought bail on medical grounds owing to the rise in COVID-19 cases in jail and his deteriorating health. The court noted that the prison had all medical arrangements to take care of his health and rejected his plea.
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May Justice prevail in the case of Fr. Stan Swamy! May God give him strength and health to face the challenges in the jail!