Bhima Koregaon violence: Bombay High Court rejects Milind Ekbote appeal

The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed an anticipatory bail plea filed by Milind Ekbote, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence. A division bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharati Dangre said, "The incident could have been easily avoided and it cannot be allowed for few people to hold majority of the population, to ransom."

The court while rejecting the appeal, which had challenged the Pune sessions court order, said, "Maharashtra was said to be a welfare and progressive state, look at what we have become and where we are going."

Two FIRs were registered against Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide alias Manohar, by Dalit activists, alleging their role in the violence at Bhima Koregaon when lakhs of Dalits had assembled at the "Jaystambh" in Perne village on the Pune-Ahmednagar road to mark the 200th year of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.

Appearing for Ekbote, senior advocate Niteen Pradhan had argued, "The charges were wrongly framed, as the complainant and other witnesses have said that Ekbote was not present at the place of incident. Similarly, the charge of inciting violence through making calls to his associates could not be substantiated as the calls were made in routine course of trust business."