Mumbai: The Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice Arun Mishra and Indira Bannerjee today granted one more week to the Bhima Koregaon accused, Activist Gautam Navalakha and Anand Teltumbde, to surrender.
The court said that it expected the accused to surrender as the courts in Bombay are functioning and not closed."However since the petitioners have enjoyed the protection for long, by way of the last opportunity, we extend the time granted to surrender for one week," read the order.
The court also clarified that there won't be any further extension of the order now. The activists had moved to the Supreme Court today seeking more time to surrender expressing fear over contracting corona. Their lawyers told the court today that they are both above 65 years of age, have heart ailments and going to prison during this of the coronavirus is "virtually a death sentence".
The Supreme Court had reserved their orders on the matter after hearing the lawyer's arguments and released the order of granting one more week around 3:30 pm today. The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had opposed both pleas saying that it is only a mechanism for them to buy more time and they both are facing serious charges.
The Supreme court had directed Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navalakha and Anand Teltumbde to surrender before the NIA within 3 weeks and submit their passports immediately. On the expiration of their time, they moved to the SC again seeking more time to surrender.
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