The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail under stringent conditions to activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira, who have been in jail for close to five years in connection with the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links case.

Gonzalves and Ferreira have been in jail in Maharashtra since August 2018 for their alleged Maoist links and involvement in the 2017 Bhima Koregaon violence in which one person died.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia granted liberty to the prosecution to seek cancellation of their bail before the trial court if they violated the conditions.

The apex court set aside the orders passed by a special judge of the NIA in 2018 and Bombay High Court in 2019 rejecting their bail pleas.

The bail conditions are:

⚫ Gonsalves and Ferreira, after being released on bail, shall not leave Maharashtra without obtaining permission from the trial court

⚫ They will surrender their passports during the period they remain on bail with the investigating officer of the NIA

⚫ Both the appellants shall inform the investigating officer of the NIA about the addresses they shall reside in

⚫ Gonsalves and Ferreira shall use only one mobile phone each during the time they remain on bail and shall give the numbers to the investigating officer of the NIA

⚫ The appellants shall ensure that their mobile phones are active and charged roundthe clock so that they remain constantly accessible throughout the period they remain on bail

⚫ They shall always keep the location status of their mobile phones active, and their phones shall be paired with that of the investigating officer of the NIA to enable him, at any given time, to identify the appellants’ exact location

⚫ Both the appellants shall report once a week to the station house officer of the police station within whose jurisdiction they shall reside.