Bhima Koregaon case: NIA court rejects Stan Swamy's bail plea

Stan Swamy (Image: Screen grab from the last video shared by Swamy before being arrested by the NIA)

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai, Maharashtra on March 22, rejected a bail plea submitted by 83-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy in the Bhima Koregaon case.

Swamy, whose official name is Stanislaus Lourduswamy, is a Jesuit priest and was arrested in October 2020.

He was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and terror-related offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly furthering the cause of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) through civil rights organisations he was a part of.

His bail plea was pending since November 2020, Live Law reported. He had filed for bail on grounds that he is suffering from serious ailments and claiming that he is being framed in the case by the NIA due to the nature of his work.

Earlier, it had taken a month for Swamy to get a straw and sipper, seized at the time of his incarceration. He had submitted that he was finding it difficult to drink water without the sipper as he suffers from Parkinsons, according to the report by Live Law.

Swamy is considered to be the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India.

On February 22, the Bombay High Court had granted a temporary bail to co-accused Varavara Rao observing that his continued incarceration would be incompatible with his health.