Five human rights activists arrested in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case would be kept under house arrest at their homes till September 6, the Supreme Court ordered today, observing that dissent was the "safety valve" of democracy.
While granting relief to activists Varavara Rao, Arun Farreira, Vernon Gonzalves, Sudha Bhardwaj and Gautam Navalakha, the top court did not consider for now the vehement opposition of Maharastra government challenging the locus of the petitioners, historian Romila Thapar and four others, seeking relief on their behalf, and calling them "strangers".
The Maharashtra police had arrested them in connection with an FIR lodged following a conclave -- 'Elgaar Parishad' -- held on December 31 last year that had later triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village. The state had challenged the petitioners' locus, dubbing them as "strangers".
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra questioned the state police's move to arrest these activists nine months after the incident and said that all of them were reputed citizens and "stifling the dissent" was not good.
"Dissent is the safety valve of democracy and if you don't allow these safety valves, it will burst," the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said in a packed courtroom.
Taking a strong note of the submissions of the state government, it said, "This (arrest) is a wider issue. Their (petitioners') problem is quelling dissent."
Singhvi also said if citizens were arrested like this, then this would be "the end of democracy."