Guwahati, Assam: The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to grant bail to activist Akhil Gogoi, stating, ‘We will not consider the petition at this stage.”
Akhil Gogoi is in custody since December 2019 in connection with a National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in the violent anti-CAA protests in Assam. A case was registered against him under Sections 120B, 124A, 153B IPC and Sections 18 (Punishment for conspiracy, among others) and 39 (offense relating to support given to a terrorist organization) of the UAPA.
Akhil Gogoi is an Indian peasant leader and RTI activist from Assam and also in the past was associated with the Anna Hazare led campaign in India against corruption. The case made against Gogoi is that he led riotous protests during the anti-CAA agitation, geared “to strike terror among all sections of people in India.”
Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, who is appearing for Akhil Gogoi argues there had been a massive agitation from everyone during the CAA protests (Citizenship Amendment) and the movement cannot be labeled as terrorism even if there had been some violence and there is no proof that Akhil Gogoi was directly responsible for that.
"Not At This Stage": Supreme Court Rejects Bail Application Of Akhil Gogoi In UAPA Case Relating To Anti-CAA Protests https://t.co/xyz6XbZKRw
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The bench of Justices N.V. Ramana, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose said perhaps the petitioner can file an application later but the Court cannot consider bail immediately.
Supreme Court sets aside plea on undertrials stating petitioners can file fresh plea with concrete facts.
Santanu Borthakur, Gogoi’s advocate said after hearing the Court’s decision, “We are waiting for a copy of the order to know the exact reasons for denial of bail. We will soon approach the Supreme Court with an appeal seeking bail for Gogoi.”
This decision by the Bench of the Court has crushed the hopes of his supporters across Assam who had been anxiously awaiting his release to participate in the upcoming assembly polls in the State.