Will look into arrest of five activists in Koregaon-Bhima case with a 'hawks eye': SC

The Supreme Court Wednesday said it would look into the Koregaon-Bhima case involving the arrest of five activists with a "hawk's eye" as liberty cannot be sacrificed at the altar of conjectures, even as it extended their house arrest for a day.

The top court told the Maharashtra government that there should be a clear-cut distinction between opposition and dissent on one hand and the attempts to create disturbance, law and order problems and overthrow the government on the other.

"Our institutions must be robust enough to accommodate any dissent or opposition to the system or even to this court. We cannot sacrifice liberty at the altar of conjectures,"a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said.

The apex court extended till tomorrow the house arrest of five rights activists --Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha-- at their respective homes.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Maharashtra, said "as a nation, we should be concerned at this. It is too serious a matter. I request the court to form an opinion only after hearing the matter in full."