AMN / New Delhi
The Supreme Court Wednesday extended the house arrest of five right activists arrested for their alleged links with the outlawed left groups.
Extending its interim order putting them under house arrest, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud directed the hearing of the matter on September 17.
The court was informed that the wife of Surinder Gadling — one of the activists arrested earlier — had filed an intervention application on their behalf challenging their arrests.
The court was told that the intervention application may be treated as writ petition.
The Supreme Court is hearing a plea by historian Romila Thapar and activist Maja Daurwala challenging the arrests of the activists.
Notably, after the locus standi of the petitioners were challenged by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta – who is representing the Government of Maharashtra – during last week’s hearing, the top court was apprised that four out of the 5 accused – Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao and Arun Ferreira – have filed a supplementary affidavit seeking impleadment to the proceedings before the top court.
Maharashtra Police arrested Sudha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira from different cities.